1969-76 Kansas City Royals

[JerryShoe]

1969-76 Kansas City Royals

With this project I will try to best the timeline it took the Kansas City Royals to appear in the playoffs for the first time, historically accomplished in 1976. My main roadblock won’t be the Minnesota Twins or especially the Oakland A’s, winners of the AL West from 1969-75, but Cedric Tallis, the first KC GM though mid-1974. He acquired Hal McRae (.300 for KC from ’74-’84), John Mayberry (3 100-RBI years), Amos Otis (5-time All-Star and Gold Glove centerfielder), Freddie Patek (top-flight shortstopping and 325 steals from 1971-78), Cookie Rojas (4 All-Star teams and mentor for Frank White) for the sum total of Jim Campanis, Lance Clemons, Joe Foy, Jackie Hernandez, Bob Johnson (after getting a 3.07 ERA year out of him ), Roger Nelson, Fred Rico, Richie Scheinblum and Jim York. Then gets fired. Go figure.
As outlined in the 1965 Yankee replay, I will play with historical injuries, 15-man reserve squad, no financials, rookies start with their original team, my players must be used for at least half their playing time or be traded or released (if I want Lindy McDaniel’s 2.86 ERA in 160 relief innings in 1973, I have to pitch him for at least 35 innings of a 5.01 ERA in ’71), and I cap my players at 10% over actual usage so I can only pitch McDaniel for 75 innings of 2.01 in’72. I do financials offline where TV contracts and ticket prices don’t matter. Team revenue comes from wins and standings, salaries from performance and longevity, so I can’t stockpile superstars unless I have the earnings to support them. Trade AI is 35/35/20/10 and the only prospective free agents in this scenario is Jim Hunter signing with the Yankees for the 1975 season IF he is with the A’s at the end or ’74 and Andy Messersmith signing with the Braves in 1976.
Of course, it starts with the expansion draft. The rules held that each team initially protected 15 players with those having (I believe) less than 2 years in pro ball or on the Military Service List (such as Bobby Murcer) exempt. The new teams selected only from within their league. There were 6 rounds, each team losing 1 player per after which they would protect an additional 3. For instance, after Seattle took Tommy Harper as the third player chosen, Cleveland added Ed Farmer, Horacio Pina and Scheinblum to their protected list.
The Pilots won the coin toss and elected to pick second and third so I had the first choice. I chose for Seattle according to their historical picks when possible and then their philosophy. I’m running the show now and not Tallis and I drafted differently. Historically, the Seattle Pilots (now the NL Milwaukee Brewers) took a win-now approach since they felt with their pre-draft signings they had a chance to compete in a perceived weak AL West (note that 1969 was the first year of division play and a team only had to be better than 5 others and not 9). Kansas City went the other way and looked to the future with younger picks. I drafted “name” players but not for the reason as Seattle. The ’61 Los Angeles Angels (before they became the California Angels, the Anaheim Angels, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and back to the Los Angeles Angels) got lucky with Dean Chance and Jim Fregosi (they chose Fregosi but got Chance in a trade with their co-expansionist Washington Senators-later Texas Rangers-forced through by AL President Joe Cronin, as back then leagues had Presidents), but most of the younger players taken by the Colt .45s (Astros), Mets and the AL entries didn’t pan out. I’m hoping for 4 division races with at least 8 teams looking to win now and auction off these players for 1 or 2 others with better potential than who I see available. In doing so, I took Tony Conigliaro and Jim Palmer and can defend their presence as not being 20/20 hindsight. Kansas City came close to drafting Conigliaro and Boston felt confident enough on his return to shop RBI leader Ken Harrelson (who replaced Tony C. in ’68) during the winter and did so 2 weeks into ’69. Questionable players chosen from Boston were Jerry Adair (a 32-year old utility-infielder coming off a .216 year) and Darrell Brandon (28 with a 81 ERA+ since his rookie year). surely Conigliaro was worth a shot more so than they. Palmer’s prospects were dimmer, but he was only 23 with an 18-11 log in the 2 years prior to his injury and was the last person to beat Sandy Koufax. His resume was better than Larry Haney (a 26-year old good-field, no-hit catcher) or John Morris (27-year old reliever with only 45 career innings pitched to his credit at this point) who were picked instead. I have less defense in the choice of Darrell Evans, but he was the last player chosen, Oakland was the only team left to pick from, and the only players left on their team were 2 corner outfielders and a pitcher. Evans was a 21-year-old third baseman who put up great numbers in the low minors before leveling off in AA. Joe Keough advanced to AA by 1968 and showed promise and only a little older than Evans, but hit only .214 in the majors in limited action. Joe Nossek hadn’t seen the majors since ’67 when he hit .205 and will turn 28. O’Riley was progressing nicely through the minors. So Evans was a numbers game choice; I only had 1 third baseman (Joe Foy, who I chose with the chance to trade to a contender) but had 7 outfielders and 16 pitchers. The 5 first-round picks are noted:

Steve Barber, ls
Tom Burgmeier, lr
Galen Cisco, rr
Moe Drabowsky, rr
Dick Drago, rs
Al Fitzmorris, rs
Mike Hedlund, rs
Lindy McDaniel, rr (4)
Roger Nelson, rs (1)
Jim Palmer, rs
Camilio Pascual, rs (5)
Orlando Pena, rs
Ron Perronoski, lr
Juan Pizarro. Ls
Jim Rooker, rs
Hoyt Wilhelm, rr

Jim Pagliaroni, c
Ellie Rodriguez, c

Dave Campbell, 1b
Darrell Evans, 3b
Ron Hansen, ss
Jackie Hernandez, ss
Joe Foy, 3b (2)
Rich Morales, 2b-ss
Bob Oliver, 1b

Tony Coniglaro, of
Tommy Davis, of (3)
Chuck Hinton, of-1b-3b
Pat Kelly, of
Andy Kosco, if-1b
Dave May, of
Russ Snyder, of

On deck, the 1969 Royals.

[JerryShoe]

1969 Royals

The Plan
As told before, I’m forsaking 1969 (and 1970, and 1971…) and looking to move Barber, Davis, Drabowsky, McDaniel, Pascual, Perranoski and Wilhelm to contenders for youth and decide if Conigliaro and Palmer are keepers, prospect bait or lost causes. In the meantime, I’ll see how the younger group like Evans, Hernandez, Kelly, Nelson and Oliver will play out while I build the rest of the team around Foy and Pagliaroni.

What Happened to the Plan
As the early part of the season rolled on, I had no luck with the players I was showcasing. Tony C. was hitting under.200, Barber and Palmer were injured (at least it wasn’t Palmer’s his arm), there were no good offers for Davis and NONE for the relievers. Things picked up at the halfway point when I was able to move Lindy McD to the BoSox for Mike Garman, Bill Lee and Tony Muser and Conigliaro to the Cubs for Joe Niekro and Rich Nye. Not the cadre of young studs I was hoping for, but the best I could do. THEN I was able to pull of a blockbuster, even though it meant giving up some youth along with an intended cornerstone (and the only player doing well): Davis, Drago, Foy and Oliver for DICK ALLEN!!! (yes, even then he wanted to be called Dick, as his friends called him). This trade is not as indefensible as it looks at first blush. Allen and Phillies management were having mutual problems for a while so he was
almost traded during 1968 for Jimmy Wynn (perceived problem children for each other), during the 1968-69 offseason to the Indians for 5 players of which only 1, then-rookie Ray Fosse, would still be around at the end of this project with 2 others never playing past 1970. He then did get dealt in the ‘69-’70 offseason to St. Louis in an 8-player deal, which if you eliminate 2 relievers or roughly equal impact and outfielder who had
no impact at all, came down as originally constructed as: Allen and Rojas (whose credentials are already noted) for Curt Flood (possibly the best centerfield glove at the time but at 32 was now a .285 hitter with no power, walks or steals) and Tim McCarver (one of the era’s better catchers but who couldn’t throw well and was regressing into a
below-average hitter). The Philly OOTP GM had his team in the race (lightyears away from John Quinn/Bob Skinner’s team of almost 100 losses) and since I use historical injuries and suspensions, Allen would be spending a third of the rest of the season serving one so would be no help. His replacements were a new leadoff hitter (Foy, who would end with a .389 OP and 59 steals, good for 4th in MLB), a new closer (Drago, 9 saves for them), a role player for 1B and CF (Oliver, who hit .341 with 7 homers in the City of Brotherly Love) and their primary pinch-hitter (Davis). They didn’t win the division but did finish third with almost 30 more wins than actual.

The Results
As expected, much worse than Tallis and Joe Gordon did with the actual expansionists, last at 56-106 instead of fourth, 69-93 and 2 games out of third and playoff pool money. Here is the not-so-Royal Kansas Citys:

3B Foy .272/.398, 22 SBs with KC
CF Kelly .359 OB, 43 SB (4th), went to RF after July 1
RF Conigliaro 6 HRs with KC
1B Oliver 10 HRs with KC with some CF
C Martinez .254 after returning from school studies in June
LF Snyder .243 with some CF
2B Morales .210, best of the rest
SS Hernandez 15 SBs

LF Davis, 1B Harrison, LF-1B-RF Kosco (.263/6 at 1B and OF during second half) and of course 3B-1B-LF Allen (.300/16/44 with KC) saw action also, especially after the July 1 trades.

S1 Palmer 12-12, 3.75 (when not injured)
S2 Nelson 3.67
S3 Rooker 9-7. 3.30
S4 Barber 3.82 (when not injured)
S5 Niekro 4.84 with KC

RP Perranoski 12 saves
RP Burgmeier 3.14
Drago and Hedlund did some starting, and all the “star” relievers had ERAs over 4.00.

As I said in the 1965-76 Yankee project, history and OOTPstory will deviate as “time” goes on, but I’ll give the results until they get too far away from each other. OOTP pretty much followed history, but for a few differences. The Orioles led thoughout the year, although it was a tight race until midseaon. By year’s end they also won by a huge margin over the Tigers, with the Red Sox playing respecfully, the Yankees a bit
better than reality, the Indians just as poorly but the OOTP Senators missed their actual only winning season. In the West the Twins won as the did..but over the Pilots??? The rest of the division finished in the same order, with the obvious exception of my cellar-dwelling Royals. There were differences in the NL, where the Pirates won the East a
year ahead of real-life over the Cardinals, who actually had a good team in ’69 but just didn’t show it. As outlined before the Phillies were the NL’s surpise team and in the hunt before ending a rewarding third. The Cubs and Mets, the only teams competing for first for real, finished in the lower half, ahead of the Expos. The Giants edged the Dodgers by a scant game in the West after finishing second 4 straight times historically.
Also historically, it was the same tight race when, in real life, Jim Bouton wrote in "Ball Four" of the possibility of a 5-team playoff. The actual winning Braves finished 5th and only the Padres were out of it. The Twins won the Series over the Jints in 7. Willie McCovey won the NL MVP as in real life, but on the AL side Tommy Harper replaced Harmon Killebrew (7th). Bob Gibson won the NY Cy Young (actual winner Tom Seaver didn't receive a vote), but Dave McNally supplanted his teammate Mike Cuellar (3rd) for the AL Cy; Cuellar co-won it with Denny McLain (also none). The Rookies of the Year came out of nowhere, being Ike Brown (Piniella got zilch) and Wayne Garrett (Ted Sizemore, 5th).

Next: The 1970 Royals

[JerryShoe]

1970 Royals

The Plan
Same as in 1969, swap veterans who can help contenders for prospect packages. During the offseason I shed some more oldsters and received vets Clete Boyer, Wally Bunker and Don Mason, but also youngsters Don Baylor, Mike Garman, Ralph Garr, Bill Lee, Tony Muser and Danny Thompson. Except for Thompson., they will take up reserve list space for a few years, and the incoming rookie class of Al Fitzmorris, Paul
Splittorff, Rich Severson, Ken Wright and Jim York, while promising, are not landscape changers. This is a work in progress and I still have some veteran value to showcase.

What Happened to the Plan
I got lucky through someone’s misfortune when continuing what was started in the offseason. The Cardinals found themselves contending but lost their third baseman, Mike Shannon, to a kidney ailment that would end his playing career days and start his broadcasting one. Here, I was able to send them Boyer (7 HRs with his Gold Glove), Perranoski (2.70) along with Campbell for Jose Cruz, Al Hrabosky and Hal McRae. Now, the well is pretty much dry of anyone any team would chase after.

The Results
Another debacle, although I was able to stave off elimination until September and snuck in under 100 losses. The catching corps that seemed so much promising tarnished, other hopefuls disappointed particularly in centerfield with May’s offense (.212) and Kelly’s defense (2 rating in centerfield). The starting pitching fell as well:

RF Kelly 51 steals (2nd)
2B Thompson .262
1B Allen 27 HRs
3B Boyer also .258 with KC
LF Snyder .247
CF May also 15 steals and had a 6 rating with 8 range
C Rodriguez at .214, the only catcher over .200
SS Hernandez .256 with only 1 steal

LF-1B-RF Kosco (.247/12) and 2B-SS-1B Severson (.247) also saw action.

S1 Palmer 3.62
S2 Rooker 8-20, 4.05
S3 Niekro 3.90
S4 Fitzmorris 4.60

RP Perranoski also 6 saves with KC
RP Burgmeier 3.12, 9 saves
Pretty ugly, right?

With rosters aligned with history for the most part, the AL followed suit with the Orioles and Twins repeating, but the in the NL the Astros and Cardinals (thanks to Boyer and Perranoski) took the titles. Houston won the Series over the Twins.
Carl Yastrzemski had a great year in real life with a .452/.592/1.044 slash line to go with .329/40/129 triple crown figures, won the AL MVP with historical winner Boog Powell finishing a bit down-ballot. But the NL MVP went to…Bob Bailey??? Best known for striking out in the 1978 AL East Playoff game and for hitting exactly .227 in consecutive years, he did have a decent actual year with .287/28/84, but really. Johnny Bench wasn't even listed. The Twins had a Cy Young winner but it wasn’t Jim Perry (some tepid support) but Tom Hall, who was 11-6/2.55/4 Saves as a reliever/spot starter for real. The NL followed history with the selection of Bob Gibson. A Yankee won the AL ROY, but it was Jimmy Lyttle and not Thurman Munson. Lyttle was a good fielding sub outfielder during an 8-year career and did hit .310 in 1970, but in only 140 PAs. Cesar Cedeno took NL honors instead of Carl Morton, and he did hit .310 that year also,
in just under 100 games after a midseason callup. No actual ROY winners got support.

On deck the 1971 Royals.

[JerryShoe]

1971 Royals

The Plan
Same as before, with less attractions to dangle but also less needs to fill. I’m sure that the pitching will straighten out. With Allen as an anchor, the corner infield and outfield should be okay leaving me to concentrate on the up-the-middle positions. I think I should have enough offense so will look to improve the defense there. This year’s newcomers are pitchers Splittorff (again), Lance Clemens and Monty Montgomery, 3 decent but not great prospects. Winter trades sent Hernandez, Nelson and Pascual for stopgaps Johnny Edwards and Cookie Rojas.

What Happened to the Plan
The bar was set high as the actual Royals burst though .500 and into 2nd place in 1971. I wasn’t expecting to do the same, but there we were at 16-6 and up by 3 games on May 1! What to do? Forsake the plan and try to win now or stay the course? I was able to delay that decision since I needed to look for a shortstop to replace an injured Thompson, getting good-field, no-hit Dal Maxvill for Morales. At 26-21, down to 4th but only 2 ½ out on June 1. I decided to test the trade waters. I sent Severson off
for Diego Segui and then looked to Pittsburgh, who in real life did trade Freddie Patek to the Royals, but my offers for him insulted the Pirate GM’s (artificial) intelligence. I looked over the rest of their roster and saw 2 good, young second basemen in Dave Cash and Rennie Stennett so thought that Bill Mazeroski might be available. He was, along with starter Bob Veale, for Kosco who by now was my sub corner IF-OF. I also sent Clemens for reliever Clay Carroll. At the halfway point the team was at 41-35 and back in 2nd place, -5½ out but I could smell first division money. I sent off youngsters Jim York and Pat Kelly to different teams for Johnny “Blue Moon” Odom and Mel Stottlemyre, sure that at least third place, maybe more, was mine…

The Results
…it wasn’t. We were in 3rd place, 1 game in front of fourth on August 22 when sparkplug Rojas was lost for the year. We did finish (barely) over .500 at 82-80, but in 4th and out of the money. Palmer (3.89) disappointed, Allen never seemed to hit when needed as evidenced by only 84 RBI and Thompson was only able to play 44 games and hit just .149 when he did. Only Garr (.309 for 4th with 30 SBs for 5th) and Splittorff (2.46 for 3rd but only 175 IP) appeared on the leader boards. Actual Royal Amos Otis stayed in New York....and won the OOTP MVP.

RF Garr also 64 RBI in the top spot
2B Rojas 304, followed by Mazeroski after injury (.213 with KC)
1B Allen also .272, 25 HRs
CF May 15 HRs and steady centerfield play
3B Evans 15 HRS in 109 games
LF McRae .310
C Rodriguez .238, partial platoon with Edwards at .237
SS Maxvill .55, .284 with KC

Cruz hit 10 HRs as an outfield sub.

S1 Stottlemyre 9-6/2.36 with KC, 19-10/2.61 overall
S2 Palmer also 14-18
S3 Splittorff also 11-7
S4 Hedlund 4.32

RP Carroll 2.73 overall
RP Lee 3.25, 12 Saves
RP Burgmeier ERA went up to 4.30

Next, the 1972 Royals

[JerryShoe]

The 1972 Royals

The Plan
Satisfied with the corner infield and outfield, I spent the offseason looking to improve up-the middle. Position by position, I traded last year’s catching corps for Ray Fosse, Jerry Grote and Gene Tenace, my 2 shortstop candidates (including last year’s starter) for no-longer good Luis Aparicio, before-he-was good Dave Concepcion and never-was-real-good Gene Michael, and top prospects Steve Busby and Monty Montgomery for wily vet Luis Tiant along with Bob Johnson. The only CF I could pick up was Jimmy Lyttle. Once more, I’m banking on the pitching will coming through on its own.

What Happened to the Plan
Again, the Royals were unexpectedly in the race, in first place after the first month and a comfortable lead in mid-June when Evans and Aparicio were injured. The lead shrunk from 5½ games to as low as 1½ on their return, but the Twins and Athletics were held at bay. After not securing a centerfielder before the season start and now being happy with May’s play, Ken Berry was offered for Johnson. I bit only because pitching was so good that there was actually an overabundance of arms.

The Results
Good news and bad news. The good news is that the Royals go into the postseason 4 years ahead of history. The bad news is that I don’t get to manage George Brett. Although things got tight at times with Minnesota and later Oakland and there were some weak spots in the offense, the Royals went 95-67 and clinched with a week to go. Dick Allen put the team on his shoulders and carried them with a leading .416 OB along with .523 SA (3rd), 98 RBI (5th); 99 Runs (2nd), 119 Walks (2nd), 279 TB (5th), 171 OPS+ (2nd). Garr came in 4th with 35 steals and Evans walked 103 times (4th).

RF Garr also .294 and .341 OB
2B Rojas .239
CF May 32 2Bs
1B Allen also .281, 27 HRs, 12 3Bs (2nd), 24 SBs
3B Evans 18 HRs, .371 OB
LF Cruz .267/.342, 16 2Bs in part-time play
C Fosse .243
SS Concepcion .227

McRae (.328/.381/.607), Baylor (7 HRs), Aparicio (.261), Muser (.280) and Michael (.267) did well off the bench. Berry slashed .331/.393/.457 in 47 games with KC, (.291/358 overall) and took over CF and leadoff spots by the playoffs.

S1 Tiant 14-7, 2.12 (3rd), 157 ERA+ (2nd)
S2 Palmer 13-12, 2.62
S3 Stottlemyre 15-12, 2.67, 29 QS (2nd)
S4 Splittorff 18 (5th) -7, 2.73

RP Segui 1.71
RP Burgmeier 2.20
RP Carroll 2.75
RP Rooker 2.85

Next, the 1972 Postseason and season awards.

[JerryShoe]

The Royals CS opponent were the Boston Red Sox, who fought the Yankees tooth and nail all summer before coasting to a 5-game lead to win the East with 100 wins. The lineup was led by the historically correct Carlton Fisk in his rookie year (.315/32/107), Reggie Smith (.295/31/114) and Carl Yastrzemski (.301). They had 2 20-game winners in Lynn McGlothen (21-10/ 2.63), another first-year Bostonian who was an actual midseason callup, and actual Brewer Jim Colborn with a 20-7/2.98 log. They had a deep bullpen with Sparky Lyle (26 Saves/2.24 and not traded to the Yankees), Lindy McDaniel (2.76 after being traded by me for Garmen, Lee and Muser-apparently not my best deal) and Bobby Bolin (2.21). Bolin was in Boston in '72, but via San Francisco and Milwaukee and in OOTP traded directly from the Giants. I changed the OOTP postseason schedule to conform to history, so the ALCS opened in KC for 2 games, a day off and then 3 in Boston. McGlothen and Tiant were the starters and the staff aces showed their stuff. El Tiante was magnifico, with no Bostonian venturing past first base and surrendering just 2 hits and 2 walks with 12 strikeouts. Meanwhile, McGlothen kept getting into and then out of trouble. He allowed 2 baserunners on in the 1st, the first 2 to reach base in the 4th, bases loaded in the 5th, another frame with the first 2 hitters getting on in the 6th. After leaving 10 on base in the first 6 innings, he finally had a 1-2-3 7th before being lifted for Lyle in the 8th, but Sparky flamed out. After getting the first out, he gave up back-to-back walks before Concepcion doubled. One out later, Berry singled him and Rojas in to complete the scoring in the 3-0 opener.
Game #2 started out WAY different than the first, with the Sox breaking out for 2 runs right off the bat, so to speak. Palmer got the first out, then surrendered back-to-back walks and both runners scored as Yastrzemski and Fisk both gambled and won off the OF arms of Garr and Cruz. The Royals got 1 back in the bottom half on Cruz' triple and Berry's groundout which was countered with Fisk's solo shot in the 3rd. The Royals tied the game in the next inning when Rojas doubled Muser pinch-singled to put runners on the corners with the top of the order coming up. Cruz and Berry came through with hits and it looked like the game would end then and there with Allen and Evans coming up with 2 on and 1 out, but Colborn put them away. From then on in regulation, Colborn settled down and Lyle and McDaniel shut out the Royals while Burgmeier and Segui did the same before Allen hit one out of the park off Bolin to start (and end) the 10th. Having disposed of 2 20-games winners, I was hoping for a sweep since I had a third ace, Stottlemyre, up my sleeve, but Jim Lonborg pitched like the ace it was 1967. The Sox scored single runs on a solo by Smith and small-ball: Mike Andrews single, Lonborg’s sacrifice and Andrews scoring on his successful running gamble on Juan Beniquez’ single. KC used small-all themselves in scoring 2 runs in the 5th on 3 singles, a sacrifice and a squeeze by Berry who was safe at first, but Allen killed the rally with a DP grounder. Segui loaded the bases to start the 9th, got a force at home but on the next grounder the sure-handed Conception threw away the ball on his throw home to end the game.
The Sox tied the CS in Game #4 as McGlothen pitched much better this time and Tiant couldn't keep out of trouble. Boston scored twice in the 3rd on Andrews’ solo shot followed by a double by Beniquez, who beat Garr’s throw home on Yaz’ single. In the next inning, Tiant allowed 3 2-out walks with another Concepcion error with McGlothen batting to finish the scoring as Lynn threw a 3-hit shutout.
I surpassed history again by winning the AL flag 8 years early. Palmer went against Ken Brett, the CS' first southpaw starter, so McRae led off and played left field. He flew out to start the game, but Allen hit a 2-run homer for a 2-0 Royal lead, which was extended to 3-0 in the 3rd with back-to-back doubles by McRae and Berry. Smith homered in the 4th to end Palmer's shutout, but Fosse hit a 3-run blast in the 6th to seemingly put the game out of reach. This is never the case In Fenway Park, and in the home half Yaz singled and Fisk homered to start off the frame. 2 singles and a walk loaded the bases, but pinch-hitter Deron Johnson struck out. Colborn drew a relief assignment in this game and walked in a run to end the game's scoring, but things got hairy again during Boston's last licks, when they loaded the bases before Segui struck out Joe LaHoud.
In the World Series, we faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates (101-61) who defeated the Cincinnati Reds in 4 games after the Reds defeated the Astros in a 163rd game. Pittsburgh featured historical Pirates Manny Sanguillen (.325, 4th in the NL), Dave Cash (.274), Richie Hebner (.296, 24 HRs and 106 RBIs, good for 5th), Willie Stargell (32 HRs and also 106 RBIs, 5th) Freddie Patek (good shortstopping with 52 steals and 5th best; no wonder they refused to trade him to me), Al Oliver (.308) and of course Roberto Clemente (.295) along with supersub Gene Clines (.313 with 15 triples, good for 2nd). Actual Buc hurlers were Dock Ellis (22-12, 2.99, wins were 2nd best and 20 CG 3rd), Bob Moose (18-7, 2.30 for 4th and 21 CG 2nd) and Bruce Dal Canton (16-10, 3.07). To this cast was added Ron Fairly (.294/29/91, acquired for a backup receiver and a second-line reliever), Phil Niekro (16-9, 2.77 for Matty Alou), Jim Brewer (2.00 with 4th most 24 saves for prospect Angel Mangual) and free agent signing Ed Acosta (2.03). Niekro was a timely trade since Steve Blass seemed to suffer his eponymous “disease” (5.15 in OOTP as opposed to historical 19-8. 2.49).
Pitt took the opener, 4-1, even though it seemed they were outplayed. KC kept threatening but not scoring, leaving 6 men on in 1the first 4 frames by which time Clemente had driven in Cash, who reached on Allen’s error. Even when the Royals scored, it seems they should have scored more. They tied in in the 5th when the first 2 batters reached, then bases loaded with 1 out, but only managed 1 run on a sac fly and even that was the result of Cruz running (successfully challenging Stargell's arm) more than hitting. Unfortunately, Stottlemyre threw better to batters (6-hit complete game) than to first; his throwing error led to a PH single by Clines and 2 more unearned runs.
In a repeat of the opener, starters Tiant and Ellis were masterful and KC kept squandering chances. Leaving 2 men on in the 1st and another after Evans 4th inning solo and he came up empty twice in later innings with runners aboard. The Pirates used 3 singles to bring in tying run and s singles with a sac fly for the go ahead. Royal pitching gave up 2 earned in 2 games and have 2 losses to show for it. Ellis went 7 innings, giving up 6 hits and a walk and then Brewer earned a tough 2-inning save to go with his Game #1 win.
The third game featured a fabulous pitching duel, Niekro and Palmer matching zeros for 8 innings. The “real” Palmer faced the Pirates twice in 2 World Series, with a 3.09 ERA in 4 starts with only a 1-1 W-L to show for it. OOTPalmer fared not much betters, giving up only 3 hits while Niekro matched him frame-for-frame. KC continue to leave men on, including Palmer singling and moving to second on Stargell's misplay only to be left stranded there 3 outs later. When he finally had to be removed in the home 8th, his PH May walked and moved to 2nd on Berry's hit, but Allen flew out to end the threat. Burgmeier came in, loaded the bases with 2 out, left for Carroll who gave up a PH 2-RBI hit from Bob Robertson. Evans tried to start a rally with an opening single, but Niekro once shut the home team KC down. So far we scored 2 runs in 3 games.
For the fourth game, Stottlemyre was tasked to avert a sweep, and he looked to do his best when he failed to sacrifice and then, seemingly tired of his mates’ inability with the stick, took matters in his own hands and doubled in the first KC lead of the Series. But then Cruz and Berry then left another 2 on. Unfortunately, he hit better than he pitched, which was uncharacteristically bad. He gave 5 runs right back in the 3rd, Patek being the ignition when he singled in 2, stole third and scored on Oliver’s triple, who later scored himself. Patek added another ribby in next inning and Hebner’s 8th inning 2-run blast ended Pirate scoring. KC finally scored 2 runs in 9th so as not to completely embarrass themselves. Dal Canton pitched an 8-hit complete game.
In a Series highlighted by top-notch hurling, the only Royals who hit were Berry (.412) and Fosse (.312). For the Pirates, Cash (.333, 3 Runs) and Hebner (.357, triple, homer, 4 Runs, 3 RBI) starred. OOTP named Niekro as MVP, assuming because it was the best of great pitching performances, but by the time he took the hill his team already won 2 games. My choice is a hitter, Hebner, scoring a run in each game. As an aside, this is the second time in 2 replays that the Pirates thwarted my Championship hopes, having previously disposed of my 1968 Yankees. BradK and (maybe) Luckymann might be proud, although I did have to outlast Luckymann’s Athletics to get this far.
As to annual honors, Johnny Bench duplicated history and won the NL MVP while Fisk took the AL; actual winner Allen (from my team rather that the ChiSox) finished second. OOTP imitated real life with the Cy Youngs as Steve Carlton took the NL Cy Young and Gaylord Perry won, although Perry was traded to the Twins and not the Indians. The Rookie-of-the-Year went against history, with OOTP selecting Rick Reuschel rather than Jon Matlock and the AI made a curious choice in the AL. McGlothen won, which is fine, but he beat actual winner Fisk, who was the MVP.

Upcoming: 1962-69 New York Mets (in a separate thread)