One of the things about the Dynasty Baseball game is that just about anything can happen which you consider that hundreds of game may be taking place at any single moment in time 24/7.
This was proved yesterday in the first series back of a player who had previously left the league but returned to take over his team when the player who had replaced him expressed an interest in drafting his own team next season, which is the fun of a draft league, rather than playing out the current one with a team someone else built even though it’s currently in first place and a very well built team.
The game started pretty normal with Yankee Ace Fritz Peterson (9-6) vs the Twins Gene Barbender (7-6) The Yanks struck first as rookie catcher Thurman Munson tripled to lead off the game and scored on a Jim Fregosi Sacrifice Fly that was just a few feet shy from going out making it 1-0.
The Twins stuck back in the bottom of the 2nd Tony Perez Led off with a single, Willie Mays drew a walk and Rich Reichhardt doubled into the gap scoring them both making it 2-1 Twins
The Yanks took the lead back in the 6th. Nate Colbert lead off with a homer to left to tie the game. Ron Fairly singled and Greg Nettles walked. Julian Javier hit into a force putting runners at 1st & 3rd with one out. Richie Hebner pinch hitting for the slumping Bill Sudakis, grounded into a force play beating out the throw to first allowing Fairly to score and it was 3-2 NY.
It stayed that way until the 9th when the most improbabile inning I’ve ever seen took place.
The trouble began for Lindy McDaniel, who came in for Barbender in the 8th, when 2nd baseman Joe Morgan booted Munson’s grounder. He moved to 2nd on a ground out by Fregosi at which point Jose Acria came in to run for him. Nate Colbert drove him in with a single for his 2nd RBI of the game and Ron Fairly followed with a double that scored Colbert all the way from first and now the Yanks had a 5-2 lead, but they weren’t done yet.
Ernie Banks then dropped the throw on a Craig Nettles grounder that should have been out 2 (or 3 if you consider the Morgan error. It was only his 2nd error of the entire season and the Yankees took advantage of that rare Banks miscue when Fairly was able to score on a Javier grounder making it 6-2.
They say trouble comes in threes and this was certainly the case for McDaniel as he dropped Banks throw to first that would have ended the inning on a slow roller by Richie Hebner for the 3rd Twins error of the inning.
Like Banks’ error it was his 2nd of the season and like Banks’ error it immediately paid dividends for the Yankees as Ken Henderson uncharacteristically deposited his next pitch deep into the right field stands for a 3 run shot which gave the Yankees a seven run lead going into the bottom of the 9th. A seemingly unassailable lead as noted by this chart on the odds of a Minnesota win going into the bottom of the 9th
Alas for the fans of the Bronx Bombers this is not football or Basketball or Hockey or even Soccer where there is a clock to run out. This is baseball which means that no matter how many runs you are ahead by going into the last of the 9th, you still have to record those final three outs to win.
Here’s what happened.
Ernie Banks started things with a single. The hot hitting Alex Johnson followed with a high chopper to 3rd which Acria now playing the hot corner made an excellent play on to get Johnson at first. Tony Perez Singled to left Banks stopping at 3rd and the Say Hay Kid came up with another single off Peterson to driving in Banks cutting the lead to six.
Reichhart hit the next ball right to 3rd and Acria forced Perez there.
The scene was now Mays on 2nd and Reichhardt at first with two men out and the score Yankees 9 and Minnesota 3. Fritz Peterson needed only one more out for a complete game victory when light hitting Joe Azcue came to bat for Lindy McDaniel
It was not to be
Azcue singled to right scoring Mays and sending Reichhardt to 3rd. New York Yankees 9 Minnesota Twins 4. Catcher Frank Fernandez followed with a single of his own scoring Reichhardt and sending Azcue to 2nd. Yankees 9 Twins 5. At this point Dick Radatz starting throwing in the pen as it improbably began approaching a save situation.
While he was getting loose John Kennedy added to the hit parade singling to center to load the bases and Joe Morgan whose initial 9th inning error had seemingly put the game on a path to defeat waited out an exhausted Peterson for a bases loaded walk making the game 9-6 and ending Peterson’s night.
Dick Radatz came in and despite the bases loaded situation only needed one out to give Peterson the win and him the save. Steve Howley came in to bat in place of the right handed Ernie Banks who had lead of the inning. He was hitting over .400 vs RHP but that didn’t intimidate Radatz who coaxed a slow grounder toward Acria who had already made one great play in the inning and had produced the 2nd out unassisted. it seemed the game was over…until Acria hurried the throw which got past Colbert. Azcue and Frenandez both scored and now the score was 9-8 on what should have been the final out of the game.
Radatz was still not worried even with the tying run at 2nd and the winning run at 1st. He still needed only one out and was determined to keep pinch hitter Lou Brock who came in to hit for Alex Johnson from driving in that tying run.
In that respect he would be successful as Brock would pop out to Colbert on a 2-2 fastball, however with the count 2-1 Joe Morgan broke for 3rd and Hovley Broke for 2nd. Catcher Jim Paglairtoni who came in to catch at the top of the inning rushed the throw trying to end the game. It sailed into the outfield for his 1st error of the season. Morgan dashed home with the tying run and Hovley made it to 3rd where he would be stranded to end the inning.
After 9 Yankees 9 Twins 9.
After that 9th inning the 10th was almost anticlimactic Twins Reliever Cecil Upshaw (W 3-1) would retire the Yanks in order in the top of the inning while Radatz (BS L 3-5) led off the 10th with a first pitch fastball and Tony Perez took that ball drove it 399 feet into the left field stands and the game was over.
Twins 10 Yankees 9.
This was quite a cap to an exciting finish. You won’t see a game like that often or at all but the real irony is this.
I mentioned at the start of this post that this was the first game back for the former manager/GM of the Twins who had left the league because he was frustrated at the computer game. He said the results were too improbable and would end up putting his team on auto in frustration. And here is his 2nd game back and what does he get, the most improbable game of the year.
That’s irony.
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