How bout them Padres? They earned a split of their series with Houston by winning two at the Dome! Eric Show improved to 2-1 for SD, allowing one earned run on six hits with 5 k's. Not to be outdone bny his WS Champion son Nick, Steve Swisher popped a two run homer and Gary Templeton continued his torrid hitting with two hits. Sixto Lezcano also added two hits. Hard luck loser for Houston was Bob Knepper, although he had 8 k's he saw his record drop to 0-5. The 'Stros lone run came when Craig Reynolds tripled and Terry Puhl doubled.
After 32 games per team here's the standings:
Braves 23-9
Dodgers 19-13
Expos 18-14
Pirates 18-14
Mets 16-16
Cubs 15-17
Reds 15-17
Cards 15-17
Giants 14-18
Astros 14-18
Padres 13-19
Phils 12-20
Braves are on fire, Bucs faltered, but Reds, Cards, and Padres deserve recognition as they are playing for pride and playing hard. I have been critical of the Reds, but they have had a good six game stretch. The Cards bats have awakended, led by Keith Hernandez and Lonnie Smith. Ther Dodgers are an enigma. Great pitching, yet hitting has been inconsistent. Garvey still struggling, Cey and Russell have cooled. Also, LA commits a ton of errors.
Player of the week, Gary Templeton. Despite a key error that cost the Pads a game, his bat has been sizzling and he stole a few key bases. As I look at the season to date, Templeton has made more of an impact than Ozzie so far. Biggest dissapointment has to be Phillies. Carlton 0-7, Schmidt under .200, and just a lack of concern. Rose a brightspot as he flirts with .300.
12 games remain! Can Atlanta keep pace, and who wins out in the battle for second, LA, Pitt, or Les Expos?
Only four teams above .500 looks like any of those four can take it.
It was even closer till Braves won four straight from Bucs
Hi Bob!
Wow, Scrapiron, whatta player he was!...Garry, if ever a guy was a projected HOF'er it was that fella! What hap'nd????
Jim
Templeton IMO could never get out of Ozzies shadow. Great talent both offensively and defensively. Got buried in SD! In Strat he is a 2 rated ss for 82 season, however has made errors at the most inoppertune times. That being said, he shined against 'Stros. Scrapiron Garner leads off for Houston and has consistently played well. Its neat to replay a season and have knowledge of what was to come with the players. In this replay I have Scioscia, Garner, Russell, Baker, Lopes,al guys that would go on to manage teams.
You know Bob, I never thought of that! They were really good minds as well!
Good job!
Jim
What I remember about Temp, too, was that he was the first to get 100 from both sides!
I thought he would make the HOF. At the time I thought SD got the best of that trade,
by far! I was way wrong!LOL!
Jim
Not to get too far off, but I recall Bil James comparing Ozzie and Garry somewhere - maybe his Historical Abstract. When very young, Garry was actually rated a little higher by baseball people but he never progressed and actually regressed - part could be SD vs. StL. Ozzie just kept improving - especially offensively since his defense was so good anyhow. It was a good article. I just canl't remember where it was (old age keeps creeping in!)
Temp had the package, offense, defense and speed. He just maxed out after the trade. Ozzie went to a baseball crazy town and Temp went to placid SD.
Week nine of the replay got under way with a series between the Cubs and Phils. Bowa, Johnstone, Moreland, Noles, and of course Runo returned to Philly and were victims of Super Steve. If you recall in our last episode, Carlton had fanned 11 giants, yet lost the game dropping to 0-7. Well he fanned 11 more Cubbiies tonight, bringing season total to 70, and scattered 7 hits as Phils won 7-1. Chicago starter Fergie Jenkins only lasted four innings and saw his record drop to 5-3, with a 2.07 era. Mike Schmidt awakened from his doldrums to triple and double, Sarge Matthews also doubled and singled, and George Vuckovich homered. Manny Trillo had three hits against his former team.
Game two saw the Phils rally in the 8th off Dick Tidrow, scoring twice to win 7-6. Pete Rose had three hits, homer, single, and double, Mike Schmidt went 2-3, as did the Sarge. Bo Diaz homered. Ron Reed took the win, Sid Monge pickked up the save. Cubs were paced by Jay Johnstones two hits and two rbi. Starters Doug Bird and Mike Krukoow were roughed up and neither made it past the sixth inning.
Very cool writeups and discussion. '82 NL was one of my favorites to replay in Strat. In real-life so many teams so close and that could win a division with a thing or two going their way. The Phillies actually had four starters with 200 IP or more — I wonder if that's the last time that's happened? Plus, so, so many deep bullpens that year in the NL.
The 2003 Mariners did it. That was the year they tied the '66 Dodgers by finishing a year using just five starters:
Moyer - 33 starts/215.0 IP
Franklin - 32 starts/212 IP
Piniero - 32 starts/211.2 IP
Garcia - 33 starts/201.1 IP
Meche - 32 starts/186.1 IP
This is by far the best stretch for the Phils. They start Carlton, Krukow, Ruthven, and Christianson. In terms of bullpens the Cubs have Lee Smith, Willie Hernandez and Dick Tidrow who in todays game could be a great 7th, 8th, 9th inning closing group. The Braves have Perez, Dayley, and Bedrosian. Dodgers Forster, Niedenfuhr, Stewart. Great pitching that season. The Cardinals, WS winners in real time, had the weakest set of starters IMO. Its been a fun replay and coming down to the final 12 games per team. Phils now 16-20, while cubs drop to 15-21. Again, two good staffs on teams that currently are at bottom of standings.
Phils won game three behind a good pitching peformance from Dick Ruthven. Dick went 7.1 innings, allowed five hits, and k'd six. Marty Bystrom pitched thye final two outs of the 8th, and Ed Farmer pitched the ninth for the save. Noles took loss for Cubs. Pete Rose had two hits, and Sarge pounded his third double of the series. Game four saw Larry Christienson throw 8 innings, scattering eight hits, and Phils got timely homers from Schmidt, Vuckovich, and Luis Aguayo for a 6-2 win and the SWEEP! Cubs hurler Randy Martz lasted only five innings. Bright spots for Cubbies, Bowa had two hits, as did Steve Henderson.
Pete Rose was 9-17 in series with homer and double and tow bb's.
Mike Schmidt was 7-16 with homer, triple, 2 doubles and four rbi.
Sarge Matthews was 7-19 with four doubles and five rbi.
Larry Bowa 4-10 with two doubles and four rbi.
Leon Durham 5-16, two doubles, and a triple.
Next series is Reds/Giants...two teams playing for pride and jobs
Great job Bob!...our b'loved Phils can only achieve" spoiler status" at this point.....ah well!
Jim
And in the uni of the enemy! The guy's a Phil t'me,always! Boy, he sure was good!
Jim
Bowa was Fantastic. Along with Concepcion, Ozzie, Temp. and Russell, there were some great SS's in the NL in the seventies. The Phils are spoilers! And, even tho only on tabletop, I could feel the entire shift in momentum come when Carlton pitched so well in game one to secure his first victory. Big time pick me-up for the team. Schmitty has come to life as well, and Ryno picked a bad time to go thru his first slump of the season. Even tho its a short season, there is still an ebb and flow to most of the teams. I am curious to see how the reds play vs SF. They were left for dead on the side of the road after the sweep by Atlanta, being held scoreless thirty straight innings. However, they have bounced back. SF has been inconsistent all season. Should be interesting. Thanks for following
Hi Bob!
You're quite welcome! That's one thing you definitely feel when doin' a league, those shifts, etc., in momentum, you are ever so right!
It's like havin' your hand on the pulse, if you will, of every game.
You've got a style in your recaps, a way of condensing everything that is really a talent
within itself.
A joy t'follow along!
Thanks Stratbro!
Jim
