Time Warp Baseball

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by pat

Dang, why the sudden surge of the birds? I thought we're going to stay at the lower-tier of the standings.

figures as soon as your out of the race too

[Vris]

Doesn't anyone like succeeding?

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Vris

Doesn't anyone like succeeding?

I know I do

[pat]

Originally Posted by Vris

Doesn't anyone like succeeding?

Oh well, it's no use really. I would rather have a good pick than at 3rd, with nothing to show for. No playoffs, no world series, no ring.

[kreitena]

After never playing through the rigors of a full season, I never thought I would be here today after what I've done this great summer. Leaving Detroit to me was like losing a mentor and a close group of friends like Kit and Dave but the way the Red Sox nation warmly greeted me was truly a testiment to our close clubhouse. Lastly, I can't help but thank Mo and Mr. Killbreath for their instruction throughout the season in improving my swing and my overall approach at the plate.
-Mike Kreitenberg

[metsgeek]

Originally Posted by kreitena

After never playing through the rigors of a full season, I never thought I would be here today after what I've done this great summer. I can't help but thank Mo and Mr. Killbreath for their instruction throughout the season in improving my swing and my overall approach at the plate.
-Mike Kreitenberg

Oh yeah, Mikey K's a Beantown lifer now.

[kreitena]

Originally Posted by metsgeek

Oh yeah, Mikey K's a Beantown lifer now.

Hehe, now let's just get them back to the playoffs.

[Matt from TN]

WEB PAGES UPDATED... INCLUDING PLAYER PAGES


September 1957

The Athletics were swept at home by the 2nd place Yankees at the beginning of the month, but they recovered and won 8 of their next 10 games to maintain a solid lead. On September 19th, Kansas City went into Yankee Stadium and held off a late charge by New York to win 5-4 behind ace Martin Gwaltney. On the next day, a Lonnie Ives sac fly in the 8th inning gave New York a 3-2 lead, but the A's stormed back with 6 runs in the 9th off relievers Loren Cost and Daniel Earley to win the pennant.

In the NL, the defending league champion Dodgers started the month just 9-6 while Cincinnati began at 6-1 before losing 6 of their next 8 games. On September 22nd, Brooklyn completed a 3-game sweep of the Phillies, but it was too little, too late as the Reds finished a 4-game sweep of the Giants on the same day with a 21-10 drubbing (thanks to an incredible 11-run 10th inning). That win gave the Reds their first pennant in 10 years. They went on to sweep the Cardinals while Brooklyn finished the season being swept by the Pirates.

Kansas City's Charlton Brown finished the season with 54 longballs. Young Abe Arsenault of the Braves hit 50 of his own, making this the first time in history that two players hit 50 homeruns in a single season.

In other statistical news, Boston's Mike Kreitenberg hit .337 in August and .333 in September to finish the season at .389. This is his first batting title, but even more amazing is the fact that no other major league hitter finished within 60 points of his average.

In Washington, Lukas Dietrich finished the season with an incredible 343 strikeouts, setting a new record. Brooklyn's Joe Helton set a new NL record with 307, joining Dietrich as the only other pitcher to K 300 batters in a season.

In The News

Sep 16: The Los Angeles City Council approved a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for a Dodger stadium if the club will agree to finance a public recreation area.

Sep 26: Walter O'Malley said he will waive the oil rights to Chavez Ravine.

Sep 27: In a desperate move, New York City Council President Abe Stark said the Dodgers should be urged to enlarge and modernize Ebbets Field.

Sep 27: Owner Paul I. Fagan agreed to rent Seals Stadium to the Giants until their new park is ready.

American League Standings 
  
Kansas City      99 55 .643 -
New York (A)     95 59 .617 4.0
Baltimore        81 73 .526 18.0
Cleveland        77 77 .500 22.0
Detroit          75 79 .487 24.0
Chicago (A)      67 87 .435 32.0
Boston           65 89 .422 34.0
Washington       57 97 .370 42.0
 
National League Standings 
 
Cincinnati      100 54 .649 -
Brooklyn         92 62 .597 8.0
Chicago (N)      89 65 .578 11.0
Pittsburgh       87 67 .565 13.0
Milwaukee        74 80 .481 26.0
St. Louis        60 94 .390 40.0
Philadelphia     58 96 .377 42.0
New York (N)     56 98 .364 44.0

World Series

Some people out there can't figure out how Cincinnati won the NL pennant, let alone 100 games, with a better-than-average pitching staff. Ask hitters around the league though, and they will tell you those Redleg hurlers are just as good as their numbers imply. 26-year-old Mitch Black was almost not signed out of college, but here he is 4 years later with a 15-11 record, 3.79 ERA and team best 158 K's. Some people snickered when Cincy traded for Ellis Weeks, but he posted the most wins (22) of his career and became the #2 pitcher on the staff after a 7-0 August.

Malign their offense all you want, but they have 9 batters with 10 or more homeruns. They scored more runs than any team in the major leagues. Their .270 average ranked 5th, but with a major league best 662 walks, they have a lot of baserunners.

As for the A's, everyone knows about Charlton Brown and his prodigious power stroke. The team led the majors in homeruns as expected, thanks to 8 players with 14 or more homeruns (and 5 of of them hit 20 or more). They also scored more runs than anyone but Cincinnati, but they did it mainly with the longball, and you can expect longballs to be hard to come by in Crosley Field.

Yet the A's have perhaps the finest all around rotation in the majors. They ranked 2nd in team ERA (3.25) and fewest walks allowed. They allowed the 3rd fewest runs and held opposing batters to a .249 average. With future Hall of Famer Martin Gwaltney (28-8) leading the staff and Jackie Bowen's 2.20 ERA following behind him, the Redlegs will find it difficult to get many runs across the plate.

My Prediction: Kansas City's homerun attack will be limited in two pitcher's parks, but their pitching is just too good not to vote in their favor. However, I expect this to be a very close contest with a possible upset in the works. If it comes down to the bench, Cincy has a large advantage. For the record, I expect the A's to win in 7 games.


Starting Lineups:

**Ancestors in BLUE

Athletics
SS Hans Habermehl, .324, 23 HR, 71 RBI, 18 SB
LF Emanuel Ryan, .302, 20 HR, 87 RBI
1B Charlton Brown, .305, 54 HR, 120 RBI
RF Chip Sinton, .290, 28 HR, 88 RBI
CF Roger McNicholas, .263, 25 HR, 83 RBI
3B Bud Ayers, .289, 18 HR, 65 RBI
C Sal Poulos, .236, 16 HR, 84 RBI
SS Rob Bell, .267, 14 HR, 64 RBI

SP #1 - Martin Gwaltney, 28-8, 2.84, 255 K
SP #2 - Jackie Bowen, 18-5, 2.20, 101 K
SP #3 - Grady Ingram, 15-10, 4.08, 185 K

Emergency SP - Tad Zonkas, 17-11, 3.30, 138 K
Closer - Cal Granger, 5-7, 38 Sv, 3.04 ERA

Other Noteable Players:
CF Todd Walker, .272, 14 RBI in 103 AB

Redlegs
3B "Bullet" Ben Cook, .266, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 119 BB, 46 SB
RF Walter Davis, .304, 16 HR, 76 RBI, 117 BB
1B Ted McMurray, .269, 38 HR, 112 RBI
LF Delmar Yordy, .312, 21 HR, 101 RBI
CF Matt Praks, .294, 20 HR, 93 RBI
SS Dennis Ward, .278, 14 HR, 64 RBI
C Alton Kee, .285, 10 HR, 80 RBI
2B Bobby Grissom, .266, 14 HR, 59 RBI

SP #1 - Hank Makris, 21-10, 3.06, 145 K
SP #2 - Ellis Weeks, 22-9, 3.67, 125 K
SP #3 - Mitch Black, 15-11, 3.79, 158 K

Emergency SP - Jerry Pegues, 19-11, 4.40, 114 K
Closer - Chris Delp, 5-6, 27 Sv, 4.41 ERA

Other Noteable Players:
IF Doug Williams, .263, 10 HR, 50 RBI
CF Bill Hall, .291, 49 RBI, 12 SB
LF Ralph Jones, .296, 19 RBI in 179 AB
C Biff Betters, .275, 17 RBI in 153 AB
RF Fred Teets, .297, 23 RBI in 111 AB
3B James Jones, .304 in 56 AB

1B Bill Reed, .145
RP Doug McMurray, 1 Sv, 8.22 ERA

[Matt from TN]

Note: Live WS sim tonight at 10 PM ET in the TWB chat room.

The site's link is in my sig & the chat room link is at the top of the league website. Feel free to join us!

[haggis007]

A's in five. You heard it here first . . .

[jdw]

Congrats to the Reds.


John

[DamnYankees]

Who was named MVP of the series?

[fvamos]

Hank Makris: Came up huge both times against Gwalt. Having Gwalt lose twice just put the nail in the A's coffin.
Nice job Cincy

[Vris]

Wow. Congrats to the Reds.

[canadiancreed]

Thanks to all, it was a great series, lots of great pitching, and overall, ltos of fun :d

Originally Posted by haggis007

A's in five. You heard it here first . . .

well he had the games right at least

[haggis007]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Thanks to all, it was a great series, lots of great pitching, and overall, ltos of fun :d



well he had the games right at least

Oops, looks like I misspelled Reds . . .

[jdw]

> Who was named MVP of the series?

Hank Makris and Ted McMurray.

Hank, as Frank pointed out, was huge in Games 1 & 4 in a pair of games where the Reds came back to win.

Ted scored the tying run in the 8th of game 1 (when Gwalt was sailing along with a shutout), hit a 2 run bomb off Bowen in the Game 2 loss, had the monster 4/4 with a 3B, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI and a BB in the Game 3 win, and hit another HR off Bowen in Game 5 in the 2-1 win. Hit .429 with 3 HR and 5 RBI.

Officially in Cato, Hank will be listed since there is only one slot per award. In the SIM, the Reds, local media in Cincy, and the National Media were pretty much in agreement on a co-MVP. Hank did pitch great, but he also gave the A's leads and needed his teammates to scramble for runs off the great Gwalt. Ted had some big numbers in the other games. And the team also had other heroes - Hall & Davis in game 1, Doug Williams big shot in Game 4 off of Gwalt, and Griss' single in Game 5, Week's masterful performance in Game 5, and Delp's lights out performance in getting a record breaking 3 saves in the series (2 had been done many times).


John

[Matt from TN]

WORLD SERIES BOX SCORES UPDATED


WORLD SERIES

Game 1 of the 1957 World Series lived up to every bit of its billing as both team's aces squared off. Martin Gwaltney of the A's and Hank Makris of the Redlegs kept the game scoreless until the bottom of the 7th when Roger McNicholas hit a 2-out RBI double that scored Chip Sinton from 1st. In the top of the 8th, the Redlegs collected 2 singles and a walk off Gwaltney to load the bases with one out. In came reliever Tom Lentz, who quickly threw a wild pitch, allowing the tying run to score. Lentz then struck out Alton Kee, and then Doug Williams grounded out to end the threat. In the top of the 9th, pinch hitter Bill Hall led off with a double off Paul Alaimo. Walter Davis followed with a single but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double. However, Hall scored on the play and Cincy went on to take the first game of the series.

Redlegs 2 - Athletics 1


In Game 2, Redlegs pitcher Ellis Weeks was hit early and often, allowing 6 runs off 7 hits and 4 walks in 4 innings highlighted by a Roger McNicholas 3-run HR in the 2nd. His counterpart Jackie Bowen pitched well except for a 4-run 5th inning that included a 2-run shot by 1B Ted McMurray. That closed the A's lead to 6-4. In the 8th, K.C. put the game out of reach by scoring 4 runs off Leon Conley with 5 singles and a bunt.

Redlegs 4 - Athletics 10


The A's continued their hot play as the series moved to Cincinnati. Emanuel Ryan hit a solo HR in the 1st to get things started, and Roger McNicholas hit a 2-run shot three batters later off starter Mitch Black. In the bottom of the 1st, the Redlegs answered with 5 singles and 3 runs off A's starter Grady Ingram. Both teams scored a run in the 2nd, and an RBI single by Ben Cook in the 3rd gave Cincy their first lead. A Ted McMurray homerun in the 6th gave the Redlegs a 6-4 lead. A wild pitch by Black in the 7th allowed K.C. to make it 6-5. But Cincinnati answered in the bottom of the inning when Dennis Ward doubled to lead off the inning, chasing Ingram from the mound. Alton Kee bunted Ward to 3rd and he scored on a single by pinch hitter Ralph Jones. McMurray hit an RBI triple in the 8th and later scored as Cincy went on to win 9-5.

Athletics 5 - Redlegs 9


Wanting to tie the series, K.C. scored another 1st inning run off a McNicholas single. Hans Habermehl ht an RBI single off Hank Makris in the 4th to give K.C. a 2-0 lead. Then in the bottom of the 4th, 2B Doug Williams, acquired on July 1st from the Pirates, hit a 3-run HR off Martin Gwaltney with 2 outs. After that, the A's only got 2 more baserunners in the game as they went on to lose 3-2, falling into a 3-game-to-1 hole.

Athletics 2 - Redlegs 3


Desperate to keep the series alive, K.C. again scored first, this time with a solo HR by Habermehl in the 3rd off Ellis Weeks. Cincy quickly tied the score when McMurray hit his own solo HR in the bottom of the 3rd. After that lone inning of scoring, Weeks and Jackie Bowen settled in. In the 6th, Dennis Ward led off with a double and moved to 3rd on a sac bunt. 2B Bobby Grissom singled to drive Ward in and give Cincy a lead that they would not relenquish. Weeks redeamed himslef after an ugle Game 2, allowing just 1 run and 4 hits over 8 innings.

Athletics 1 - Redlegs 2


Ted McMurray and Hank Makris were named co-MVP's. McMurray had several key hits in the series, hitting .429 overall with 3 HR, 5 RBI, 6 runs and a 1.407 OPS. Makris went head to head against the Athletics ace in Games 1 and 4 and posted a 2-0 record, 1.69 ERA and 8 K in 16 IP.

Originally Posted by haggis007

A's in five. You heard it here first . . .

You guys always ruin the surprise.

[jdw]

Good series. Often happens in short series - the games themselves are much closer than the 4-0 or 4-1 would make it seem. One of the Cards losses to the Tigers was like that.

It's a bit too bad the Live SIM crapped out. The blow outs would have been fun - it's always fun to watch a GM see his team get torched. And that it alternated would have been a great ying-yang for Games 2 and 3. And then the drama of the comebacks in the last two games, and them remaining tight where it would be up in the air until the last out... it would have been nice.

My ancestors have been in just two Series, and have had memorable moments.


John

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by jdw

Good series. Often happens in short series - the games themselves are much closer than the 4-0 or 4-1 would make it seem. One of the Cards losses to the Tigers was like that.

It's a bit too bad the Live SIM crapped out. The blow outs would have been fun - it's always fun to watch a GM see his team get torched. And that it alternated would have been a great ying-yang for Games 2 and 3. And then the drama of the comebacks in the last two games, and them remaining tight where it would be up in the air until the last out... it would have been nice.

My ancestors have been in just two Series, and have had memorable moments.


John

in a way the live sim woudl have probably killed me. after doign twenty hour days of work, haivng the ups and downs of my team woudl be like fun, yet argh!

cant wait ti go for it again in 1958