History of Baseball - OOTP19 version

[Tiger Fan]

1969 AWARDS
MORE HARDWARE FOR KOUFAX

For the third straight season Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax won both the Cy Young and National League Most Valuable Player Awards. In all, the 33 year old lefthander has 6 Cy Young Awards and 5 MVP trophy's in his collection. In 35 starts this season, Koufax went 21-9 with a 1.63 era and a National League leading 280 strikeouts. He is already the all-time leader in career strikeouts with 3,680 to his credit. His record is now 236-138 and he has 5 twenty-win seasons under his belt.

Here are the results for the NL MVP and Cy Young voting

NATIONAL LEAGUE MVP  	1stPl   TOTAL
Sandy Koufax	LA 	21	317
Tony Perez	CIN	 3	193
Bob Gibson	STL	 0	192
Bill Singer	LA	 0	162
Pete Rose	SF	 0	162
Gaylord Perry	SF	 0	 76
Jerry Koosman	NYM	 0	 66
Tom Seaver	NYM	 0	 58
Fergie Jenkins  PHI	 0	 53
Dick Dietz	SF	 0	 49
Johnny Bench	CIN	 0	 42
Bob Watson	HOU	 0	 36
Jim Wynn	CIN	 0	 21
Frank Howard	LA	 0	 21
Ron Santo	CHN	 0	  9
Juan Marichal	SF	 0	  4
Claude Osteen	CIN	 0	  4
Hank Aaron	ATL	 0	  3
Joe Morgan	HOU	 0	  2
Bob Bailey	PIT	 0	  2
Bill Hands	SF	 0	  1


NL CY YOUNG AWARD 	1stPl   TOTAL
Sandy Koufax	LA	24	168
Bob Gibson	STL	 0	 96
Bill Singer	LA	 0	 72
Gaylord Perry	SF	 0	 29
Jerry Koosman	NYM	 0	 21
Tom Seaver	NYM	 0	 16
Fergie Jenkins	PHI	 0	  6

AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS

24 year old Minnesota Twins outfielder Reggie Smith was named the top player in the American League. The young centerfielder hit .336 to claim his first AL batting crown, while belting 25 homers and driving in 126 runs. Smith received 17 of a possible 24 first place votes to nose out Boog Powell, who equalled an American League record with 51 homers, for the award.

The top pitcher was also a first-time winner as Fritz Peterson of the Yankees claimed the Cy Young award after going 21-6 with a 2.40 era.

Here are the results for the AL MVP and Cy Young voting

AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP  	1stPl   TOTAL
Reggie Smith	MIN	17	298
Boog Powell	BAL	 4	212
John Lowenstein CLE	 2	190
Rico Petrocelli BOS	 0	184
Sal Bando	OAK	 1	121
Bobby Murcer	NYY	 0	 99
Fritz Peterson	NYY	 0	 59
Bobby Grich	BAL	 0	 51
Merv Rettenmund BAL	 0	 40
Denny Lemaster  CLE	 0	 38
Thurman Munson	NYY	 0	 31
Jim Fregosi	CLE	 0	 25
Willie Horton 	DET	 0	 24
Sam McDowell	CLE	 0	 16
H. Killebrew	MIN	 0	 11
Reggie Jackson  OAK	 0	  6
Tommie Agee	CLE	 0	  5
Dean Chance 	BAL	 0	  5
Jim Nash	OAK	 0	  1


AL CY YOUNG AWARD 	1stPl   TOTAL
Fritz Peterson	NYY	13	128
Denny Lemaster  CLE	10	121
Sam McDowell	CLE	 1	 77
Dean Chance	BAL	 0	 27
Chuck Dobson	OAK	 0	 19
Jim Merritt	MIN	 0	 13
Jim Nash	OAK	 0	 12
Vida Blue	OAK	 0	 11

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Greg Goossen of the Los Angeles Dodgers was a near unanimous choice for the National League rookie of the year award. The 23 year old C-OF received 22 of a possible 24 first place votes. Al Oliver of Pittsburgh finished second with Ross Grimsley of Cincinnati coming in third. Each received 1 first place ballot. Goossen hit .261 with 22 homers and 61 rbi's after taking over the starting catcher duties with the loss of Johnny Roseboro in the expansion draft.

The American League award went to Bobby Grich of the Baltimore Orioles who outpointed Oakland's Vida Blue for the award. Grich, a natural second baseman, played shortstop as a rookie for the Orioles, batting .327 which was good for third in the American League. The 20 year old led the American League in on-base percentage and hit 15 homers while driving in 69 runs in 132 games. Grich received 22 first place votes with the other two going to the 19 year lefthander Vida Blue. Blue was 13-5 with an AL leading 2.19 era on the season. His mid-September injury made him unavailable for the playoffs and his absence may have been the difference in San Francisco defeating Oakland in the World Series.

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS

Baltimore third baseman Brooks Robinson won the gold glove for the fourth year in a row and 8th time in his career. Robinson, along with Cleveland pitcher Denny Lemaster and Boston shortstop Rico Petrocelli have the longest active streak going, as each have been named Gold Glove winners for the past 4 seasons. Chicago Cub third baseman Ron Santo, with 5 overall, has the longest active streak among National Leaguers as he won his third straight.

The expansion Montreal Expos may not have fared well (52-110 on the year) but it was not because of their defense. The Expos had 2 gold glove winners in Don Kessinger and George Kopacz.

  AMERICAN LEAGUE GOLD GLOVE WINNERS
POS  NAME		TM	#ofGG
P  Denny Lemaster	CLE	4
C  Duke Sims		CLE	3
1B John Lowenstein	CLE	1
2B Horace Clarke	NYY	3
3B Brooks Robinson	BAL	8
SS Rico Petrocelli	BOS	4
LF Roy White		NYY	1
CF Reggie Smith		MIN	1
RF Curt Flood		BAL	4

  NATIONAL LEAGUE GOLD GLOVE WINNERS
POS  NAME		TM	#ofGG
P  Gaylord Perry	SF	1
C  Johnny Bench		CIN	2
1B Lee May		CIN	1
2B Ken Hubbs		CHN	2
3B Ron Santo		CHN	5
SS Don Kessinger	MON	1
LF George Kopacz	MON	1
CF Paul Blair		NYM	1
RF Hank Aaron		ATL	3

A'S ADD SLUGGER LUZINSKI

The big news out of the winter meetings was the trade between the Philadelphia Phillies and Oakland Athletics that sent 19 year old 1B-OF Greg Luzinski to the west coast. Luzinski has spent the past two seasons with the Phillies, batting .261 with 27 homers in 264 major league games. Where will he play is the big question in Oakland as the A's already have Darrell Evans (.261,9,40) at first base and Rick Monday (.250,13,63), Reggie Jackson (.275,28,83) and Joe Rudi (.283,15,81) in the outifield. The deal also saw Oakland acquire 26 year old pitcher Wade Blasingame, who was 7-12 with a 4.19 era for the Phillies last season. In return, Philadelphia gets catcher Ellie Rodriquez, who as a 23 year old rookie hit .289 in 91 games for the A's last season.

ANALYSIS

As much as I love the deal for Oakland there is a down side. The concern for the A's is they are woefully thin at catcher with 23 year old Gene Tenace really all they have got. Behind him they have 27 year old William Madden who played in 4 games for the A's last year and 30 year old Billy Bryan, who appeared in 3. If Tenace gets hurt the absence of th Rodriguez will be felt.

But the upside of a lineup going forward that could include Luzinski, Reggie Jackson, Darrell Evans, Sal Bando, George Hendrick and Joe Rudi would strike fear into oposing pitchers. Especially considering Bando, at 25, is the oldest of this group. The A's depth chart of the future likely has Luzinski at first, Evans shifting to second base, Campaneris at shortstop, Bando playing third and an outfield of Hendrick or Rudi in left, Monday in center and Reggie in right. They add one or two more pitchers and we likely have a dynasty in Oakland.

[Tiger Fan]

1970 HALL OF FAME BALLOT

Early Wynn, who won 278 games in his 23 year major league career, highlights the list of first time nominees on the 1970 Hall of Fame ballot. Catchers Yogi Berra and Sherm Lollar, along with pitcher Billy Pierce and shortstop Pee Wee Reese headline the list of returning names to the ballot. They have been profiled in earlier posts. The next few posts will be to look at the 14 newcomers to the ballot with a particular focus on Wynn and Duke Snider - the two candidates with likely the best chance for election.

HAL BROWN

The first name alphabetically among our new nominees is pitcher Hal Brown. Not quite sure how he made the cut as Brown only had a couple of good seasons and owns a losing record of 122-131 with a 4.01 career era. He spent most of his career with the Red Sox but probably his biggest claim to fame is he was traded to Boston in exchange for Ted Williams. It occurred late in both their careers after Brown was selected by Washington in the expansion draft prior to the 1961 season. At the trade deadline that year he was moved back to the Red Sox for a then 42 year old Williams, who would play just 10 games in Washington before retiring.

Brown's other claim his he was taken in the expansion draft twice as after being dealt back to the Red Sox he was seletced by the Mets in the 1962 expansion draft and he finished his career with them.

Brown was an all-star once, in 1958, but did win 6 Silver Slugger Awards as the best hitting pitcher in the American League. He never played in a post-season game.

VERDICT - Not anywhere near HOF calibre.

SMOKEY BURGESS

With 2,138 career hits and 191 homers my initial reaction is Burgess falls well short of a Hall of Fame calibre career but when I look closer his numbers line up very well with both Sherm Lollar and Yogi Berra, who each made my ballot last year. As you might recall, when discussing Berra and Lollar I compared their numbers to the 4 catchers already in Cooperstown. Here is the same list with Burgess added to it.

CAREER TOTALS FOR HALL OF FAME CATCHERS

NAME		YRS	  G    H    HR  AVG  WAR   GG SS AS  MVP  WS  WSMVP
Mickey Cochrane 1923-38 1747 1912  120 .333  73.5   9  7  3   0    2   2
Bill Dickey     1925-44 2044 2423  210 .337  81.7   1 10 11   0    5   0
Gabby Hartnett  1921-41 2109 2330  248 .319  75.0   0  8  4   0    6   0
Ernie Lombardi  1927-48 2366 2502  252 .305  66.9   0  4 10   0    0   0 

Yogi Berra      1946-63 2099 2141  322 .280  62.7   6  4  8   0    1   0 2nd yr on ballot 52% last yr 
Sherm Lollar    1943-62 2213 2058  243 .267  65.2   8  5 13   0    1   0 3rd yr on ballot 59% last yr.
Smokey Burgess	1947-64 2055 2138  191 .285  52.2   0  5 10   0    0   0

Burgess never won a gold glove as Andy Seminick and later Berra and Del Crandall seemed to monopolize them during Burgess' career, which was spent entirely with middle of the pack Chicago Cubs teams. His 10 all-star appearances and 5 silver slugger awards are impressive.

The real-life Smokey Burgess did not match the numbers of the sim Smokey. IN real-life he played in just 1,691 games but did hit for a higher average (.295) then the sim Burgess. The real life version had 1,318 career hits including 126 homeruns. He was a 9 time allstar and a member of the Pirates 1960 World Series winner.

VERDICT - The longevity is impressive for a catcher as all but 1 of his 1935 career defensive appearances came behind the plate. He was the best hitting catcher of his era in terms of batting average and 10 all-star games add to his case. I am thinking he fits third behind Berra and Lollar so I may run out of room for him on my ballot but his status certainly improved in my mind when I took a closer look at his career.

HARVEY HADDIX

The real-life Haddix did not make the major leagues until the age of 27 so our sim version was way ahead of him. Haddix also seemed to have the knack of ending up with a pennant winner in this sim although he pitched in just 1 World Series. His 20-10 1954 season was the best year of his career and 4 years later he helped lead the Cincinnati Reds to their first pennant in nearly two decades and was the beginning of the Big Red Machine that dominated the 1960s - although Haddix would not be around to see it through.

He broke in with the Cardinals organization in 1947 and made his major league debut in September that year as a 21 year old. He made 3 relief appearances down the stretch as the Cardinals won the pennant and World Series that year.

That off-season he was dealt to the Phillies along with 1B Elbie Fletcher in exchange for outfielder Earl Rapp. He would spend the next 4 and a half seasons bouncing between Philadelphia and their AAA affiliate. The Phillies would win 4 straight World Series titles but Haddix never played in the post-season and was just 6-8 with 4 saves in 49 regular season appearances during that time.

Midway through the 1953 season he was dealt to Cincinnati along with fellow pitcher Jack Sanford in exchange for a little known infielder named Jaime Abad. It was in Cincinnati that he was finally given his shot and began to prosper. Haddix would win 95 games over 6 and a half season with the Reds and help them win the 1958 pennant.

At age 34 he was traded again, this time during the winer prior to the 1960 season in a deal with Cleveland that sent Rocky Colavito to the Reds. He spent 5 seasons with the Tribe, primarily pitching out of the pen and had a career best 12 saves in 1964 his final season. He retired the year before the Indians resurgance began and 2 years before their World Series win.

Best known for pitching 12 perfect innings in a game against Milwaukee only to see his team lose in the 13th, the real life Haddix went 136-113 over his 14 year major league career.

VERDICT - A couple of very good seasons but not a Hall of Famer.

[Tiger Fan]

1970 HALL OF FAME BALLOT (continued)

BILLY HOEFT

A fractured elbow may be the reason Hoeft is not considered one of the greats in the game. In Hoeft's age 22 to 25 seasons he went 73-32, highlighted by a 24-4 Cy Young Award winning season and 3 World Series titles with the Detroit Tigers. Everything changed on opening day 1958 when the 25 year old Hoeft blew out his elbow and missed the entire season.

While he would return from the injury and play another 6 seasons, Hoeft would start just 4 major league games following the injury and never be the same pitcher. He would end his career with a 92-61 record along with 17 saves. Best known as a Tiger, whith whom he went 2-1 in 4 World Series starts, Hoeft would also play for the Cubs, Giants, Senators and Yankees in his 12 year major league career.

The real life Hoeft also had a couple of very good seasons with Detroit before bouncing around the final few years of his career. He was 97-101 in real life.

VERDICT - One great seasons does not make a Hall of Famer.

HARVEY KUENN

Like Hoeft, Kuenn had some great years in Detroit and helped the Tigers win 3 World Series titles but his major league career was over at the age of 33. The shortstop broke in with the Tigers as a 21 year old in 1952 and would spend 9 seasons in Detroit while collecting a number of awards including a World Series MVP, a gold glove, 2 Silver Slugger Awards and 5 all-star selections.

In November of 1960 the Los Angeles Angels selected him 14th overall in the expansion draft but after two seasons he was released. After sitting out the 1963 season, Kuenn resigned with the Angels but spent the bulk of the season in the minor leagues and retired for good following the 1964 campaign.

He played 1,548 games and was a career .298 hitter with 1,757 hits. While he never won a batting title, Kuenn did lead the American League in hits with 228 in 1955 - when he hit .356 but finished second to Baltimore's Willie Mays, who batted .363 that year.

Kuenn excelled in the post-season, starting 18 World Series games and posting a career .350 average. He was named World Series MVP in the Tigers amazing 1958 season. That was the year that Detroit, the Yankees and Red Sox finished in a 3-way tie for first place. The Tigers beat the Yankees in New York 3-2 on the first playoff game and then beat Boston 2-1 in a pennant clinching game that Kuenn had 2 hits and and scored the winning run. Detroit took a 3-games to none lead on Los Angeles only to see the Dodgers roar back with 3 straight wins including 2 that came in their final at bats only to see the Tigers win game seven 4-3 with Kueen, who hit .394 in the series, driving in 2 runs in the Series clinching game.

The real life Kuenn earned a longer major league career, playing in 1,833 games and hitting .303 with 2,092 career hits. He won a batting title and a rookie of the year award in real life but never got a World Series ring like the sim version did.

VERDICT - Played a huge role in the Tigers 3 World Series winners of the 1950s but did not play long enough to post Hall of Fame calibre numbers.

MINNIE MINOSO

The trend of Detroit World Series winners of the 1950's continues as Minoso's was another key contributor to the Tigers 3 World Series championships and like Kuenn he won a World Series MVP. Minosa was also a 4-time all-star and won a gold glove. He played 2,071 major league games and amassed 2,331 career hits while posting a lifetime .296 average.

Minoso was originally signed as a 20 year old by the New York Cubans of the Negro National League in the fall of 1945 but his contract was purchased by the Boston Braves prior to spring training 1946 and he was part of the initial group of players to break the color barrier. After a season in the minors he joined the Braves in 1947, starting 145 games in the Boston outfield and finished 3rd in National League rookie of the year voting.

Minoso would remain with the Braves until November of 1952 when he was traded to Detroit in exchange for outfielder Irv Noren. It was the best move possible for Minoso, who spent nearly a decade patroling left field at Tiger Stadium. His career ended with the Chicago White Sox in 1964 at the age of 38.

The real life Minoso was famous for playing in 5 decades as the White Sox used him in a game in 1980 at the age of 54. He finished with 1,963 career hits and a .298 career batting average in 1,835 major league games.

VERDICT - Not good enough to get my vote.

[Tiger Fan]

1970 HALL OF FAME BALLOT

(continued)
Here are the next 3 newcomers to the Hall of Fame ballot.

WALLY MOON

A 6-time all-star, Moon played most of his 12 year major league career with the St Louis Cardinals. He led the National League in batting in 1962 when he hit .347, scoring a league high 125 runs the same season. He also led the NL in steals once and triples twice in his career.

Moon made his MLB debut with the Cardinals late in the 1950 season at the age of twenty. He would appear in 40 games for St Louis the following season but did not become a major league regular until 1952. He played in two World Series for the Cardinals, winning in 1959 when he batted .294 in a 4 game sweep of the White Sox.

Moon would remain a fixture in the St Louis outfield until he was released during spring training prior to the 1964 season. He would catch on with the Los Angeles Angels but only played in 33 games for them over 2 seasons with the organization.

In all, Moon played in 1,818 major league games, hitting .307 with 2,137 hits and 186 homeruns.

In real life Moon played 12 seasons in the majors, split almost equally between the Cardinals and Dodgers, batting .289 with 1399 hits and 142 homeruns. He was NL rookie of the year in 1954 and would go on to win two World Series titles in Los Angeles.

VERDICT - A solid career and some very good seasons in St Louis but not Hall of Fame worthy.

DON OLEXIO

Another contributor to the Tigers 3 World Series wins in the 1950's, Olexio pitched for Detroit from 1953-1964, compiling a 122-70 career record. The lefthander signed with the Tigers organization as a 19 year old in 1950 and would be a fixture in the Detroit pitching rotation throughout his major league career, which ended prematurely due to arm troubles that cost him the tail half of the 1963 season and almost the entire 1964 campaign.

He was an all-star just once - in 1956 when he was 17-8 and was in the first of his 3 straight years as the Tigers number two starter behind Billy Hoeft. The rest of his career he was in the back end of the rotation.

I could find very a little about the real life Don Olexio, although I did find an image of him in a team picture of the 1950 Butler Tigers. He went 9-4 for Butler that season and then moved up to the Durham Bulls the following year, where Olexio was 5-3 with 2 saves in 17 appearances. From there he disappeared from baseball and I have no idea what happened to him after that.

VERDICT - Good pitcher on some good Detroit teams but not a Hall of Famer.

PETE RUNNELS

The collection of Detroit Tiger World Series winners on this ballot continues with the addition of second baseman Pete Runnells. Runnels spent his entire 14 year career with the Tigers, winning 3 World Series rings to along with 4 all-star selections, 2 Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove.

The Texas native began his pro career with the independent Texarkana Bears as a 22 year old in 1950. He tore up Big State League pitching, hitting .406 to win the league batting crown and MVP award. The Tigers signed him and he began 1952 as Detroit's everyday second baseman - a position he would hold through the 1962 season. A hamstring injury suffered in spring training 1963, cost Runnels his starting job and ultimately led to the end of his career two seasons later.

Runnels played 1,690 career major league games, all with the Tigers, and hit .293 with 1,796 hits. He also appeared in 18 World Series games and hit .313 including going 7-for-12 in a 4 game Detroit sweep of Cincinnati in 1958.

The real life Runnels played 14 seasons in the major leagues for Washington, Boston and Houston, batting .291 with 1,854 career hits in 1,799 games. He was a 5 time all-star and won 2 American League batting titles.

VERDICT - Another player who had a good career with the Tigers and contributed to multiple World Series wins, but not a Hall of Famer.

[Tiger Fan]

1970 HALL OF FAME BALLOT

(continued)

BOB RUSH

Just like in real life, the sim Bob Rush was on some bad Chicago Cubs teams in the 1950s. Rush's entire 17 year major league career with the Cubs in this sim and he finished with a 165-175 career record. He is the franchise's all-time leader in losses and second to Guy Bush in career wins as a Cub. He spent 10 years in the Cubs rotation before moving to the bullpen after an arm injury cut short his 1959 season.

Rush never pitched in a post-season game. The only team he was ever associated that won a championship was the Davenport Cubs of the Triple I League in his first pro season of 1949. He went 10-4 with a 3.15 era for that team but had been promoted to AAA Los Angeles and later the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs well before Davenport played it's championshipship series. Rush was a 4 time all-star in the sim. In real life Rush made the all-star team twice and finished with a 127-152 record, spending most of his time with the Cubs before finishing his career in Milwaukee and finally with a brief stop with the Chicago White Sox.

VERDICT - Solid major league starter for a decade but not an all-star.

ROY SIEVERS

Sievers spent his entire sim career in the Browns-Orioles organization starting with his rookie year of 1948 when he hit .284 with 22 homeruns and made the first of 4 career all-star appearances that season. 1948 also gave Sievers one of his 2 career gold gloves and he finished second to Detroit's Duke Snider in American League rookie of the year voting. Prior to that, Sievers spent 1947 in AA with Gadsden and San Antonio where he started as a pitcher, going 1-1 with a 6.21 era but hitting .333 that year which prompted the Browns to switch him to the outfield the following season and he made the big league club right out of camp.

In all, he spent 17 years with the organization with his final game being played in 1964. After being released by the Orioles following the 1964 season he tried to catch on with the Yankees but never advanced past a 9 game stint with AA Columbus before being released again and retiring.

While Sievers never played a post season game, he did enjoy a long and productive career - playing in 2,378 games, getting 2,270 major league hits including 357 homeruns. He is second only to Willie Mays on the Orioles franchise career homerun lead and ranks 4th in hits and games played. Overall, his 357 homers rank 21st all-time among major leaguers and he is tied with Pinky Whitney for 98th overall in all-time hits.

In real life Sievers overcame a potentially career-ending shoulder injury early in his career and went on to become just the 18th player to hit 300 homeruns. According to his SABR biography Sievers, known as Mr. Clutch for his late-inning heroics, hit almost a quarter of his home runs in the eighth inning or later, including nine walk-off blasts. He hit ten grand slams and ten pinch-hit home runs. He played 1,887 career games and had 1,703 hits including 318 homers and was a lifetime .267 hitter. Sievers was the American League rookie of the year in 1949 and a 5 time all-star.

VERDICT- Some good numbers but I think he needed another season or two to get over 2500 hits for me to seriously consider him. Just does not have quite the stats needed for the Hall, especially with the absence of titles or a bunch of awards.

DUKE SNIDER

Yet another in the long line of Detroit Tigers stars who appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year. Unlike the others, Duke Snider is a Hall of Fame candidate in my mind. He made his pro debut with the Dodgers organization in 1944 but got lost in the crowd and was released in June of that year despite hitting .302 as a 17 year old for Newport News at the time. The Giants quickly signed the Los Angeles native and he finished the year by hitting .281 in 55 games for the Richmond Colts but he was fighting for playing time with fellow 17 year old outfielders Don Mueller and Whitey Lockman. He would remain with Richmond the following season and also play some for the Hickory Rebels but the Giants, with 21 minor league affiliates and hundreds of prospects decided to release Snider after he suffered a back injury in late July.

At the end of September of 1945 Detroit, with one of the worst farm systems in the majors and sitting dead last in the American League, signed the 18 year old Snider and assigned him to class A Muskogee the following season. It would turn out to be one of the key moves in the Tigers turnaround for the 1950's. Snider hit .343 with 20 homers in half a season at Muskogee and by the time the 1946 season ended he was playing AA ball for Dallas of the Texas League and batting .455 in 27 games while helping the Rebels win the Texas League playoff series. The following year, 1947, Snider hit .335 with 15 homers in 103 games with Dallas and earned a promotion to the big league club.

Snider went 1-for-4 in his major league debut, getting a single off Harry Brecheen in the bottom of the 7th inning in a 5-1 Detroit loss to St Louis. In all, he would get 15 at bats down the stretch for Detroit, batting .467 with 2 doubles and his first career homerun - off of Boston reliever Fritz Dorish as a pinch-hitter.

Snider would never play in the minors again, hitting .306 with 20 homers and 100 rbi's to win the American League rookie of the year as a 21 year old in 1948. His career, spent entirely with Detroit, would last until age 37 in 1964 and include 2,280 games, 2,385 hits, 384 homeruns and a .292 batting average. A six time all-star, Snider would win 4 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 gold gloves to go with his 3 World Series rings. He never led the American League in batting or homers and led in rbi's just once, but he was a fixture in the heart of the Tigers batting order during their glory days of the 1950s -and had the Dodgers and Giants not both cut him we might not have seen Detroit come close to it's World Series total that decade.

Snider's #4 is one of just 5 numbers retired by the Tigers (Charlie Gehringer, Joe Medwick, Hal Newhouser and Hugh Duffy are the others) and he is the franchise's all-time homerun and rbi leader. Snider also ranks third behind Al Kaline and Gehringer in games played, hits and runs scored. He is 16th all-time in major league homers and 24th in rbi's.

The real-life Duke Snider posted very similar numbers to the sim. 2,143 games, 2,116 hits and 358 homers to go with a .295 career average. The real Snider won 2 World Series but made 8 all-star teams.

VERDICT - Not sure if it is my Tiger bias or not but Snider gets my vote. The 3 World Series put him over the edge although he struggled at the plate in all 3 and missed much of the 1958 Series due to an injury that limited him to a 100 games that season. In 1954 he hit a key 8th inning homerun to help Detroit win game six of the series and then had two more hits in game seven as the Tigers rallied to beat Philadelphia. Again in 1957, despite struggling early in the series he played a huge role in the game seven win over the Dodgers - getting a hit, a walk and scoring twice in a 4-3 win.

[Tiger Fan]

1970 HALL OF FAME BALLOT

(continued)

Down to our final two newcomers on the 1970 ballot.

CHUCK STOBBS

A 3-time all-star, Stobbs went 145-127 over a 17 year major league career primarily with the Braves organization. His greatest season coincides with the Braves World Series winning year of 1956. Stobbs went 20-10 with a 2.88 era that season and then was 1-1 in 2 World Series starts as Milwaukee beat the Yankees in 7 games to win the series for the first time since 1897. Stobbs would pitch and win Game Seven, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits over 8 innings before being removed for a pinch-hitter as the Braves won 4-2 on the road. Stobbs finished second to teammate Johnny Antonelli, a 24 game winner, in Cy Young voting that season.

Stobbs would finish with a 145-127 career record and ranks 3rd in franchise history for games pitched as a Brave, trailing Dizzy Trout and Ed Walsh. The real-life Stobbs was 107-130 over his major league career that started with the Braves but included stops with the White Sox, Senators, Cardinals and Twins.

VERDICT- Stobbs has a special place in the heart of Milwaukee Braves fans for his Game Seven win that brought the only modern day (post 1900) championship to the organization but he is not a Hall of Famer and was never even the best pitcher on his own team.

EARLY WYNN

We save this year's best new candidate for last. Wynn spent most of his 22 year career with the Washington Senators but also had quick stop in Minnesota (when the Sens moved) and finished up with 3 years with the Chicago Cubs. His only post-season experience came in 1949 when the Senators lost to Philadelphia in 6 games in the World Series. Wynn won his only decision, posting a 1.80 era in 2 appearances.

Only Hall of Famer Walter Johnson won more games as a Senator/Twin then Wynn did and it is surprising his number has not been retired alongside The Big Train's by the franchise. Wynn pitched on some bad teams so his career record is 278-279, leaving him tied for 14th all-time in wins and sitting in 4th all-time in losses behind only Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and pre-1901 star Gus Weyhing. Cy Young is the only player who pitched at all after 1901 to have more wins than Wynn and not be in the Hall of Fame except for Curt Simmons, who has 12 more wins that Wynn and is retired now but won't be eligible until 1973.

Wynn threw 2 major league no-hitters in his career, both for Washington against the Chicago White Sox with one coming in 1952 and the other 7 years later. Not know for his strikeouts, Wynn did enjoy a 15 K game in his career and won a Pacific Coast League championship with San Francisco in 1940.

The year after the Senators relocated to Minnesota, Wynn suffered his first real serious injury when he was sidelined for 4 months with back problems. The Twins released him after the season but he caught on with the Chicago White Sox where he spent just 2 weeks of spring training before being dealt by the White Sox to the Cubs in exchange for young second baseman Julian Javier. Now 42 years old, Wynn would go 12-8 for the Cubs in 1962 and then pitch two more seasons after that for them before retiring following the 1964 season.

Wynn won a Cy Young in 1954 when he went 19-11 with a 2.24 era but he made just 2 all-star teams in his career. He won a Cy Young in real life as well but was also a 9 time all-star while comiling a lifetime record of 300-244.

VERDICT - Despite the lack of individual awards or titles, he gets my vote based purely on the longevity of his work at a high level. I can only imagine the stats he could have posted had Wynn been on a good team. From 1943 to 1960 he never started less than 25 games a season. During that time the Senators were under .500 12 out of those 18 years.

[Tiger Fan]

Here is my Hall of Fame ballot.

For my ballot the only real change I made from last year is decided to vote for Cap Anson instead of Ralph Kiner. As much as I like Kiner I think I need to throw a vote towards Anson. Yes, he hardly played in the era I simmed but his 3,564 hits belong in the Hall and if I don't vote for him I expect he might drop below the amount required to remain on the ballot.

Other than that the 3 newcomers in Burgess, Snider and and Wynn get my vote. There are not enough catchers in the Hall and I believe the 3 on my ballot all belong there. I would like some extra votes for a few of the pitchers I had to overlook as well as the middle infielders. Included in that group I could not vote for are: Rube Marquard, Billy Pierce, Eddie Plank, George Uhle, Doc White, Bobby Doeer, Billy Goodman, Joe Gordon, Red Schoendienst and Tony Lazzeri.

[JaBurns]

A little favourite team bias is not a bad thing, I am sure it happens all the time IRL.
Duke Snider probably belongs in the HofF even without bias....

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

A little favourite team bias is not a bad thing, I am sure it happens all the time IRL.
Duke Snider probably belongs in the HofF even without bias....

Not according to the voters, at least not this year.

[Tiger Fan]

VOTERS ADD NO ONE TO HALL

None of the 40 eligible players on this years Hall of Fame ballot where able to gain enough support to be included in Cooperstown as no one managed to appear on 75% of the ballots, as required for induction. Pitcher Billy Pierce, a 7 time all-star who won 221 major league games for the Browns and Orioles, came the closest as his name was on 71.2% of the ballots in his second year of eligibility. Last year Pierce made 66% of the ballots so he is trending upwards for next year.

First time eligible Duke Snider, the Tigers outfielder with 384 career homeruns, was the only other player to come close to election. His 70.4% inclusion left him just under 5% short of the necessary votes.

Here is the complete list of voting results:

1970 HALL OF FAME RESULTS
NAME		      Ballots  Yrs on Ballot
Billy Pierce		71.2%	 2
Duke Snider		70.4	 1
Sherm Lollar		60.0	 3
Yogi Berra		57.5	 2
Pee Wee Reese		55.9	 9
Early Wynn		52.6	 1
Cy Young		39.7	39
Smokey Burgess		37.5	 1
Ralph Kiner		34.0	 6
Gene Woodling		31.5	 2
Pete Alexander		28.5	38
Joe Gordon		19.5	13
Heinie Manush		17.0	27
Billy Hoeft		16.7	 1
Sam Rice		16.7	32
Doc White		16.4	39
Eddie Plank		15.6	39
Cap Anson		15.6	39
Wally Moon		12.6	 1
George Uhle		12.3	31
Gene Conley		11.8	 2
Rube Marquard		11.8	39
Chuck Stobbs		10.7	 1
Sam Thompson		10.1	39
Bob Rush		 9.3	 1
Lon Warneke		 8.2	21
Gil Hodges		 7.9	 5
Harry Brecheen		 7.1	10
Roy Sievers		 6.6	 1
Minnie Minoso		 5.5	 1
Billy Goodman		 5.5	 5
Tony Lazzeri		 5.2	25
  FOLLOWING ARE DROPPED FROM FUTURE BALLOTS
Bobby Doerr		 4.9	12
Harvey Haddix		 4.4	 1
Red Schoendienst	 3.8	 3
Del Ennis		 3.6	 7
Harvey Kuenn	 	 3.0	 1
Don Olexio		 1.1	 1
Hal Brown		 0.5	 1
Pete Runnels		 0.3	 1

VETERAN'S COMMITTEE ADDS TWO TO COOPERSTOWN

While the standard Hall of Fame balloting process failed to elect anyone this year to the collection of baseball greats in Cooperstown, baseball's veteran's committee did ensure the class of 1970 would not be empty by adding two new members to the Hall. The committee decided on legendary Negro League catcher Josh Gibson and turn of the century pitcher Cy Young as the newest members.

Gibson played during the era of segregation and as a result was prevented from competing in the major leagues but he was without a doubt the greatest slugger the Negro Leagues ever knew. He spent 18 seasons in that loop, primarily with the Memphis Red Sox and hit 515 career homeruns in just 1811 games. Gibson, a catcher, had 2447 career hits and was a lifetime .369 hitter. He won 4 MVP awards and was a 3-time winner of the Negro World Series MVP while hitting .427 with 11 homeruns in 23 NWS games. The typical Negro National League seasons was about 100 games long, so imagine what he might have accomplished with a 154 game schedule.

Young was still on the standard Hall of Fame ballot and has been for the past 39 years after a career that saw him win 341 games. He pitched for Cleveland and Washington from 1890-1905 and is, of course, the player the award for top pitcher is named after. His sim career was not as prolific as what he accomplished in real life, in part due to a career ending injury suffered in 1905 that robbed him of a few seasons.

[JaBurns]

Just looking at Snider was he hurt in 1960?

[Tiger Fan]

IT'S OFFICIAL. MANTLE RETIRES

After spending quite some time deliberating a possible return for what would have been his 21st major league season, legendary outfielder Mickey Mantle has decided instead to hang up the spikes. Mantle leaves the game just shy of two milestones as he finishes his career with 2,993 hits and 588 homeruns. Only the legendary Ted Williams hit more homers and Mantle falls just shy of becoming the 26th player to reach 3000 career hits.

The writing has been on the wall the last few seaons as his numbers have steadily declined...to the point where the Yankees left him exposed in the expansion draft last year. San Diego selected Mantle with their 26th round pick but after he hit just .200 with 2 homers in 58 games he was released by the Padres. Another expansion club, the Seattle Pilots signed Mantle to finish out the season but he went just 3-for-32 (.094) with no extra base hits for Seattle.

Mantle was a 6 time American League MVP and a 12 time all-star. He also won a pair of World Series titles with the Yankees as well as 11 Silver Slugger Awards and 2 Gold Gloves to go with his 1950 American League rookie of the year award. Mantle also won 2 batting titles and a triple crown in 1957. He is also the all-time leader in World Series homers (14) and RBI's (40) while ranking 11th in World Series games played with 47.

He has to be considered a lock for the Hall of Fame when he is eligible in 5 years.

[BadluckinOOTP]

always a shame when a guy struggles his last 5 years and misses out on a career .300 batting average.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by BadluckinOOTP

always a shame when a guy struggles his last 5 years and misses out on a career .300 batting average.

Certainly is. Maybe I was the jinx for the Mantle of this sim. I started picking things up just before the '65 Series and he was awful in it after a good regular season....and did very little after that.

[Tiger Fan]

1970 OPENING DAY

The 1970 season is set to begin and with very few major roster changes the same teams that led the way a year ago are expected to dominate. The preseason predictions have the Cincinnati Reds bouncing back from an off year last season and leading the way with 108 wins. The defending World Champion San Francisco Giants are tabbed to take a drop all the way to fourth place in the ultra competitive NL West with the Dodgers and Astros both picked to finish between Cincinnati and the Giants.

The NL East has the Mets favoured to defend their division championship with the pitching of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan leading the Mets to a slim win over Pittsburgh. Oakland is tabbed to repeat in the AL West but will face a stiff challenge from Minnesota while Baltimore and Boston will duke it out for the AL East title with Cleveland also in the mix.

Below are the top 10 players and top 10 pitchers entering the 1970 season as well as the top prospects.

[Tiger Fan]

Been busy with work this week so no time to write recaps but did get some gameplay in and we are now less than 2 weeks from the end of the 1970 season.

It has been quite a year with some very good pennant races and some great individual accomplishments. Let's start with the American League East. There was no suspense at all regarding the division winner as the Baltimore Orioles began the season by going 23-8 and led pretty much wire to wire. With just 9 games remaining the Orioles have already won 105 - tops in the majors - and are 18 games ahead of second place Boston.

Boog Powell is following up a 51 homer season a year ago with another monster year. Powell is batting .300 with 142 rbi's and a new American League record 53 homeruns so far this season. A pair of 21 year olds in Don Baylor (.259,28,88) and Bobby Grich (.288,16,75) are enjoying break out season's which helps the Orioles not miss Davey Johnson (.287,9,49), who's season was cut short by early August shoulder surgery. Baltimore's pitching has traditionally been good, but with the off-season addition of Phil Niekro (20-6, 2.84) the Orioles rotation is outstanding. Second year player Jim Palmer (22-7, 2.27) has emerged as the ace with Dave McNally (17-9, 3.15), Gary Peters (16-4, 3.54) and Dean Chance (10-4, 3.54) rounding out the rotation.

The big story in Boston is the play of rookie outfielder Amos Otis (.365,26,106), who is leading the American League in batting. Don Buford (.246,28,76), Carl Yastremski (.286,23,56), Tony Conigliaro (.301,37,116), Carlton Fisk (.261,15,44), Rico Petrocelli (.236,33,95) and George Scott (.284,24,71) provide plenty of offense but the pitching is once again mediocre. Veterans Mike Cuellar (17-10, 3.03), Larry Jackson (15-15, 3.84) and Jim Lonborg (14-8, 3.95) are the only reliable starters.

Thanks to youngsters Jeff Burroughs (.259,23,75) and Bill Buckner (.327,11,84) there is finally signs of future success in Washington, where the Senators sit in the third place. 23 year old Joe Coleman (17-8, 2.28) is having a breakout year.


Let's jump over to the National League East for what has been a two team race between the Mets and Pirates. New York presently enjoys a 4.5 game lead on Pittsburgh but the Pirates hopes received a huge boost when they took 3 of 4 in the Big Apple over the weekend. Time is running out for the Bucs but they do have 3 more games against the Mets next weekend.

Young pitcher Tom Seaver (22-4, 1.76) and Nolan Ryan (19-6, 2.52) have been dominant for the Mets while two other youngsters in John Mayberry (.306,38,105) and Ken Singleton (.250,21,69) have carried the offense. Willie Stargell has missed much of the season for Pittsburgh but Bob Robertson (.260,31,79), Al Oliver (.316,24,79), Richie Hebner (.305,13,67), Manny Sanguillen (.356,8,68) and Bob Bailey (.278,23,92) have picked up the slack.


The Reds and Dodgers have been battling it out all season in the National League West but Los Angeles, which held the division lead at the beginning of September, is now 5.5 games back of Cincinnati. The defending World Champion Giants were in the mix at the all-star break but have been unable to keep pace in the most competitive division in baseball. Even the 5th place Braves, with legendary Hank Aaron (.322,49,129) enjoying an outstanding season, are over .500 leaving just the expansion San Diego Padres as the only club in the division with a losing record.

The Reds have six regulars with at least 20 homeruns: Jim Wynn (.296,37,92), Lee May (.279,29,90), Johnny Bench (.288,28,86), Frank Robinson (.292,28,81), Tommy Harper (.286,25,85) and Tony Perez (.280,21,75). As a result it comes as no surprise they are once again leading the major leagues in runs scored. This year, unlike many past seasons, the pitching has also been good led by Jim Maloney (17-4, 2.77), Gary Nolan (17-5, 2.15), Ray Sadecki (18-6, 3.14) and rookie Don Gullett (16-5, 3.05).

Pitching is never an issue for Los Angeles as Sandy Koufax (21-4, 1.50) is having another dominant season. Veterans Frank Howard (.290,32,84) and Roberto Clemente (.334,24,93) provide offense. Willie McCovey (.271,30,94) and Pete Rose (.340,16,72) are having their typical strong seasons for San Francisco but the Giants pitching has struggled a bit this season.

Which brings us finally to the one division with an outstanding pennant race down the stretch. Oakland and Minnesota have each taken turns jumping ahead in the American League West but neither has been able to build a lead it could sustain. Both have won 7 of their last 10 games and now - with 9 games remaining - they are tied with identical 97-56 records. To make it even more exiciting they will begin a 3 game series head to head in Oakland tonight before each finishes the year with 6 games against weaker opponents. Oakland plays 3 home and 3 away against Milwaukee to end the year while the Twins do the same with Kansas City.

While Mickey Lolich (14-12, 2.72) and Jim Kaat (13-10, 3.09) have down okay at the top of the Minnesota rotation it is the emergence of Rudy May (22-3, 2.39) and Tom Hall (12-2, 1.81) and another strong season from Jim Merritt (17-9, 3.09) that has the Twins contending. A season ending injury in May to Dave Boswell has left Minnesota with 5 lefthanders in it's rotation. Minnesota leads the American League in runs scored thanks to table setter Rod Carew (.362,8,66) and 3-4-5 hitters Reggie Smith (.333,28,112), Harmon Killebrew (.272,42,129) and Graig Nettles (.302,38,123). 25 year old catcher George Mitterwald (.276,18,70) is having a great sophomore season.

Oakland is led by Sal Bando (.293,36,106), Reggie Jackson (.272,25,75 despite missing 25 games), Darrell Evans (.253,19,67), Rick Monday (.253,19,82), Joe Rudi (.307,10,90) and Gene Tenace (.261,15,61) while Vida Blue (24-3, 1.72) has been practically unhittable on the mound. Chuck Dobson (17-13, 3.31), Lew Krausse (17-7, 3.36) and young closer Rollie Fingers (21sv, 2.90) have also had a strong year.

So we have 9 games left to decide the AL West winner with a big series coming up in Oakland beginning tonight. Vida Blue, who threw a 3-hit shutout in a 3-0 win over California yesterday, will not be available for the series.

Notes: In April, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Frank Robinson joined the 3000 hit club with a single off of Bill Singer in a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers. The 34 year old becomes the 26th player in major league history to reach the 3000 hit plateau.

Other milestones reached this season include:

2000 HITS - Carl Yastremski-Boston, Billy Williams Cubs, Brooks Robinson- Baltimore

300 HOMERUNS: Frank Howard - Los Angeles

250 WINS - Sandy Koufax-Los Angeles

200 WINS - Jim Bunning - NY Yankees, Juan Marichal - San Francisco

The only no-hitter throw so far this season was by Marty Pattin of the Washington Senators. It was the first no-hitter in Senators (expansion franchise only) history and came in a 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Dennis Menke (.315,15,72) of the Cubs had the season's longest hitting streak at 31 games. His total is 8 shy of Charlie Hollocher's 1928 record.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 1970

The Twins and A's enter their 3 game series in Oakland tied with identical 97-56 records. The opener of the series was a wild game that the Twins would ultimately win 7-6. Minnesota starting pitcher Tom Hall (12-2, 1.81) would face just one batter before leaving the game with a biceps strain. 19 year old Bert Blyleven woudl take over and pitch 5 solid innings to get the win, despite allowing Oakland's Reggie Jackson (.274,27,79) to hit a pair of two-run homers. Errors would be Oakland's undoing as the A's committed a pair of miscues in a 4 run 6th inning that game Minnesota the win.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 1970

The Twins extended their lead to 2 games on Oakland after Rudy May (23-3, 2.38) pitched 8 and a third innings while allowing just 2 runs as Minnesota won a laugher by an 11-2. Oakland starter Jim Nash (9-10, 4.21) allowed 6 runs - 5 earned - in 4 innings of work. Eric Soderholm (.270,14,38) and Rod Carew (.362,8,69) each had 3 hits for Minnesota, with Soderholm hitting a triple and a homerun while driving in 6.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 1970

Minnesota completes the sweep with a 6-4 victory as Mickey Lolich improved to 15-12 on the season by outpitching Chuck Dobson (17-14) of Oakland. Rod Carew had his second straight 3 hit game for the Twins while teammate Graig Nettles had 3 hits and drove in a pair of runs.

With the win the Twins lead atop the American League West is now 3 games on Oakland with each club having 6 games remaining.

[Tiger Fan]

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 1970

After an off day for both clubs the Twins and A's each lost on Friday keeping Minnesota's lead at 3 games with 5 to play. The Twins allowed Kansas City to score 3 times in the bottom of the first and ended up on the short-end of a 5-3 score. 22 year old outfielder Joe Pactwa (.236,16,57) led the Royals with 2 hits, including a triple, and 4 rbi's. In real life Pactwa would play briefly in the major leagues, but as a pitcher rather than an outfielder.

Oakland had it's ace Vida Blue on the mound to try and halt the A's 3 game losing skid but despite allowing just 1 run over 7 innings Blue and the A's took another loss. Rollie Fingers blew his 7th save of the season as California scored twice in the bottom of the 8th to beat Oakland 3-2.

We suddenly have a battle going on for the National League East Division as Steve Blass (18-5, 2.17) and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their fourth straight game - beating Nolan Ryan (19-7, 2.70) and the New York Mets 6-1. The Pirates now trail the Mets by 2 games with 5 games remaining for each club including a pair of head to head contests tomorrow and Sunday in Pittsburgh.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1970

Our focus now turns entirely to the NL East after Minnesota won and Oakland lost today. The A's are 4 games back with just 4 games remaining in the season. Reggie Smith hit his 29th homer of the season to help Minnesota past Kansas City 6-4 while Oakland fell for the fifth straight game, losing 3-2 to California.

The Pirates are now just 1 game back of the Mets after Pittsburgh pounded New York 7-1. The big blow was Manny Sanguillen's (.251,8,73) 3-run triple in the bottom of the third inning. New York managed just 3 hits off of Pittsburgh starter Bob Moose (11-3) and reliever Lou Marone.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1970

The Mets got some breathing room with an 8-1 win over Pittsburgh to salvage 1 game from the 3 game series. The Mets, at 101-58, have a 2-game lead on the Pirates with 3 games to play. New York will end the season at home with 3 games against the Cubs while the Pirates are off to St Louis for a season ending 3 game set.

Tom Seaver (23-5) got his 23rd victory of the season in the win as the Mets jumped all over Pittsburgh starter and losing pitcher Bob Veale, scoring 6 runs in 1 2/3 innings. Bud Harrelson (.273,0,35) had a 4-hit game for New York while Ken Singleton (.250,22,71) and John Mayberry (.302,40,111) each drove in 2 runs.

Elsewhere, Rudy May won his 24th game of the season, pitching a 2-hit shutout as Minnesota blanked Kansas City 10-0 to clinch the AL West Division title. The Twins will face Baltimore in the ALCS while the Reds are still waiting to see if they will play the Mets or Pittsburgh.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 1970

After an off-day the Pirates and Mets are both back in action. Pittsburgh won in St Louis by a 4-3 score while the Mets fell at home to the Cubs 6-2. As a result New York's lead on Pittsburgh is down to 1 game with 2 to play.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1970

The final day of the season will have huge significance as the Pirates win again while the Mets lose so the two clubs are tied at 101-60 with 1 game to play. Richie Hebner (.304,13,71) had two hits and 2 rbi's while Steve Blass (19-5) outduelled Steve Carlton (13-8) in a 3-2 Pittsburgh win in St Louis. Nolan Ryan (19-8) was again denied his 20th win of the season as the Cubs won 6-2 in New York with former Met Donn Clendenon (.271,27,76) leading the way for Chicago with 2 hits, including a solo homerun, and 2 rbi's.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 1, 1970

A full slate of games to end the season but all the attention is focused on just two games. The Mets send Tom Seaver to the mound and Seaver pitches a 3-hit complete game shutout for his 24th victory of the season to lead the Mets to a 2-0 win. Pat Jarvis of Chicago made it a terrific pitchers duel as he also allowed just 3 hits but they included a solo homerun from John Mayberry in the sixth inning to snap a scoreless tie.

There was a lot less suspense in St Louis were the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates pounded out 17 hits in a 7-1 win over the Cardinals. Bob Moose(12-3) allowed just 4 St Louis hits over 8 innings while Bob Robertson (.266,31,81) and Al Oliver (.320,24,81) each had 4 hits for the Pirates.

Both clubs finish with identical 102-60 records so we will need a playoff tiebreaker between the Mets and Pirates tomorrow to determine the winner of the National League East Division. With the top pitchers on each club tired after pitching the last 3 days the Mets will send #5 starter Gary Gentry (7-6, 3.03) to the hill in the tiebreaker while the Bucs counter with their #4 starter in Bob Veale (15-7, 2.74).

[Tiger Fan]

Have not had much time to update but did play through the LCS so here is just a quick recap.


NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST TIE-BREAKER
Ken Singleton hit a walk-off homerun to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning to give the New York Mets a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates and allow them to claim their second straight NL East crown. The Pirates had rebounded to tie the game after trailing 3-0 through 5 innings.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
After beating the Pirates in the tie-breaker the Mets took game one of the best of 5 NLCS from Cincinnati by a 3-1 score as Jerry Koosman and Dick Selma combined on a 4-hitter. However, the Reds evened the series the next day winning a marathon 13 inning game by a 6-5 score. The Mets had taken the lead in the top of the 13th on a Paul Blair homerun but the Reds got the win when Tony Perez hit a 2-run walk-off shot off of Mets rookie Jon Matlack to even the series.

The Reds would then clinch the series with 5-2 and 7-2 victories with Perez being named the Series MVP.

Baltimore swept the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS with Dave McNally and Gary Peters throwing back to back shutouts in games two and three after Jim Palmer beat the Twins 5-3 in the series opener. Of note in Game Three, 39 year old outfielder Willie Mays hit his first career post-season homerun. This was the first time Mays, who had been with the Orioles organization since 1950 when they were still the St Louis Browns, reached the post-season. In the 77 year history of the sim, the Browns-Orioles had never played a post-season game prior to this week.

This sets up a Cincinnati-Baltimore World Series, which in Mays and Frank Robinson gives us 2 of the top 5 all-time homerun leaders. The Reds have 10 World Series appearances and 4 titles to their credit, with all four coming since 1960. Cincinnati last won the Series two years ago.

[Tiger Fan]

I have not had a lot of time to play or write but the 1970 World Series is shaping up to be one for the ages. Here is a quick recap.

GAME 1
Jim Palmer allowed 3 hits over 8 innings as the Baltimore Orioles, playing in their first World Series game in franchise history, beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1. Bobby Grich had a pair of hits and drove in 3 runs to pace the Orioles offense with Boog Powell and Don Baylor each adding a pair of hits and an rbi.

GAME 2
Dave McNally and the Orioles were cruising along with a 3-1 lead through 8 innings thanks to a 3-run homer off the bat of Brooks Robinson. Don McMahon, who relieved McNally in the 8th got the first two outs in the top of the ninth inning before walking Lee May. Pinch-hitter Art Shamsky followed with a 2-run homer to tie the contest and the visiting Reds would score two more in the 10th to even the series with a 5-3 win.

GAME 3
It was Baltimore's turn for the comeback as the Orioles plated two in the top of the ninth to win 4-3. Merv Rettenmund's rbi single was the game winner and one of his 3 hits this game. Frank Robinson hit a 2-run homer for the Reds in the loss.

GAME 4
The longest game in World Series history as Cincinnati wins a 19-inning marathon by a 2-1 score. Lee May drove in Tony Perez with the winning run off of Baltimore reliever Don McMahon - who takes his second loss of the season. Baltimore's Dean Chance and Claude Osteen of the Reds each allowed 1 run before giving way to their respective bullpens. Cesar Tovar of the Reds went 0-for-8 in the contest and left 8 men on base.

The previous record was 16 innings, which occurred 3 times: 1906, 1912 and 1942.

GAME 5
Another long games, this one 15 innings and the third extra-innings win for the Reds who take a 4-3 win in 15 innings to go up 3 games to two in the series. Bobby Grich homered to help the Orioles take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth but the Reds tied the game on a pinch-hit single from Hal McRae. Frank Robinson won it in the 15th with a single to score Jim Wynn, who had led off the inning with a double.

GAME 6
Facing a must-win situation, the Orioles got off to a quick start as Merv Rettenmund hit a lead-off homer off of Ray Sadecki in the bottom of the first. Before the inning ended the Orioles led 3-0 and would go on to win 6-1 to force Game Seven. Dave McNally got his second win of the series while Willie Mays had 3 hits and scored a pair of runs for the Orioles. Baltimore third baseman Brooks Robinson had 2 hits and 3 rbi's.

GAME 7
The Orioles continued their momentum from game six by taking a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Boog Powell hit a 2-run homer and Chuck Gross added a 2-run single. Cincinnati chipped away at the lead and only trailed by one after three innings. The Reds tied the contest in the top of the seventh on a Johnny Bench homerun but Baltimore regained the lead on a rbi triple off the bat of Mark Belanger in the bottom of the seventh inning. The score would remain 5-4 as Orioles closer Don McMahon retired the final 6 Reds in order to preserve the 5-4 victory and give Baltimore it's first World Series title.