Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

1972 League Playoff Review Wild Card Round American League California Angels at Boston Red Sox

Posted: September 28, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, Dynasty, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The first round of our 1972 league playoffs kick off this week in a best of three series between the 2nd and 3rd wild card teams. The winner will face the top seeded NY Yankees in the Division series in round two (Best of 5):

California Angels 82-80 2nd in AL Alpha 29 GB 3rd wild Card

Offense: The Angels played pretty much .500 ball this season with a team that didn’t scare many people with their bats hitting .241 as a team despite Manny Mota being 2nd in the AL in hits (202) and hitting .314 (6th in the league) and walking even less (16th out of 20 MLB teams) hitting only 75 Home runs all season and finishing 14th in slugging although they had three players in the top 8 in the AL for Triples Mota with 10 (8th), Jerry Moralas 12 (tied 3rd) and Tommy McGraw who was 2nd with 13 and also 7th in OBP .374. Their most dangerous offensive player being Jose Cardinal who finished the season at .288 17 HR 107 RBI (4th in league) and 39 doubles (tied 5th) and 95 runs scored (7th)

Defense: A team with little offence needs solid defense and California certainly qualified in that score their .986 fielding percentage was tied for 5th in the majors and only .001 off the MLB lead and their 89 Errors were 6th in the majors. Bobby Valentine at 2nd (.984) Don Money at 3rd (.980) and Dave Concepcion (.980). The two weak links. 2nd Catcher Bill Plummer who let 10 of 11 baseruners steal on him and Cardinal whose 5 errors in right and .978 fielding percentages were a problem.

Pitching: Clay Carrol was lights out in the pen saving 28 in 31 chances with a WHIP of .092 (2nd in AL) but the starters ran hot at cold. Tommy John’s 2.46 ERA in 248 innings only produced a 15-14 record. Another innings eater was Tom Bradley who pitched 275 1/3 innings (6th in AL) but at a cost of 18 losses (tied 3rd in AL) against only 10 wins. The Ace of the team was Clay Kirby who led all American league pitchers with a .193 Avg against finishing with a 18-12 Record with a 3.33 ERA

Red Sox 86-76 3rd in AL Beta 14 GB 2nd Wild Card

Offense: Boston’s .256 avg and .326 OBP were both 3rd in the Majors and 2nd in the AL led by Carl Yazstremski whose .335 led the AL. Yaz also led the Majors with a .431 OBP and his .519 Slugging pct was good enough for 4th in the AL and top 10 in the majors. He was helped by Vada Pinson whose .311 avg (7th in AL (37 doubles (6th in AL) did their job and Rookie Carlton Fisk who managed 39 doubles of his own and Willie Davis whose 97 walks led the AL and Rico Petrocelli whose 24 Home Runs led the team (yet only drove in 67). Despite playing in Fenway they only managed 96 round trippers although their 244 doubles, no doubt aided by the green monster were good enough for 6th in the Majors and 2nd in the AL.

Defense: Boston .987 fielding percentage was part of a 4 way tie for the best in the majors and their paltry 83 errors were part of a 3 way tie for 2nd in the Majors (and 2nd in the AL) Fisk’s arm discouraged base stealing as he threw out 5 of the mere 12 who attempted to steal. Boston was one of three teams who allowed less that 10 SB all season (9). In the rest of the field things were just as good. Wes Parker only committed 4 errors in 1389 1/3 innings while helping to turn 100 DP getting to balls most fielders would not be able to touch while Rick Petrocelli only committed 7 errors at 3rd in 537 chances for an .987 fielding percentage while Vada Pinson committed only a single error in the OF primarily in Right while Willie Davis in center threw out 12 runners this season. One surprise down side was Left Fielder Carl Yazstremski who managed 6 errors as age seemed to catch up but was perfect at 1B when spelling Wes Parker.

Pitching: Boston’s team era of 3.52 was decidedly middle of the pack (0.02 behind California) Gary Nolan (16-9 2.72 ERA in 254 1/3 innings) Claude Osteen (16-18 3.72 ERA in 276 innings) and Rick Wise (17-14 3.11 in 272 1/3 innings) carried the workload with a rotation by committee Tom Timmerman, Lynn McGlothen, Ken Bret and John Curtis carrying the rest of the load. Boston lead the AL with 51 complete games. Nolan did lead the league with a 1.01 WHIP and was top 10 in avg against and was top 10 in ERA but the Bullpen as a whole managed only 24 saves in 35 chances with an aging Joe Horlen demoted to the pen with only a single start managing 8 saves in 10 chances (10th in league) but on the whole the bullpen was unremarkable.

Boston vs Calif head to head.

Series 1:

The Angels visited Boston in May losing two of three. In game one the Redsox gave Jim McAndrew his first loss 5-1 with Hector Torres, Horace Clarke and winner Gary Nolan (3-1) all singling with 2 men on in the 4th to provide all they needed. In game two Tommy John broke an Angels four game losing streak holding Boston to one run while Jerry Moralas’ 2 run shot off of Tom Timmerman did the job with insurance added later and Clay Carroll closing it out. Boston won the series however with a 6-4 win with Clarke and Torres again doing the damage to give Boston the lead in the sixth. Rick Wise pitched a complete game for the win.

Series 2:

The Sox came to California in Junes and Swept the angels away starting with a 9-2 blowout with Six Redsox hitters driving in runs off of Tom Bradly including winning pitcher Claude Osteen. Game 2 was closer as the Angels bailed out Tommy John with 2 out in the 9th to tie the game but the Sox started the top of the tenth with four straight single to drive in 1 and a two out single by Bud Harrelson driving in two more for the 6-3 final. Game three was a dual between Rick Wise and Clay Kirby but despite a one out Leroy Stanton single in the 9th driving for the 2nd day in a row to narrow it to 4-3 Rick Wise held on to win the duel.

Series 3

For the 2nd Time Tommy John held the Redsox to a single run and Carroll provided the save as the Angles won 3-1 thanks to a Rusty Torrez Home run off of Ken Brett in the 7th but Boston answered back the next day at Fenway with a 5-4 win with doubles by Carlton Fisk and Hector Torrez making the difference. In game 3 Claude Osteen who like his foe Tom Bradly would lose 18 on the season shut out the Angels who would win 2-0 helped by a rare key error by shortstop Dave Conception which put Fisk on first. Yaz singled him to 3rd and Petrocelli fly to the warning track in the August night sent him home.

Series 4

The last visit meeting of teams in September was again good luck for the hard luck Osteen. Tommy John only gave up a single run through seven but John Rooker gave up 3 more in the 8th including a 2 run HR by light hitting Doug Griffin so that when the Halos finally got two off of Osteen in the 9th it wasn’t enough. Game two went worse as three Sox pitchers combined for a shutout meaning that the paltry two runs that Jim McAndrew gave up was enough to cost him the game. Finally the Redsox scored three solo runs in the 1st three innings off of Bradley and added three more to double up California 6-3 despite RBI triples from both Money and Morales which couldn’t overcome homers by Pinson and Petrocelli

Season Series Redsox win 7-2

Boston’s offense clearly give them the advantage as both teams have excellent defense and middling pitching staffs, Boston’s strength in the rotation while California has a shut down closer. The question is can the Angels score enough runs to get to the Sox mediocre bullpen. I think the series will come down to Tommy John and Clay Kirby vs Gary Nolan and Rick Wise. But with the Bats Boston has I can’t see the Halos managing to break through.

My prediction Boston wins series 2-1

Dynasty League Playoff Pictures 1997 & 1972 Leagues

Posted: September 8, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, Dynasty, dynasty baseball, fun, gaming, online gaming, Sports
Tags: , ,

On my first regular Sunday off in almost forever I thought I’d take the time to update you on the two Dynasty Leagues I am currently running as both seasons are nearing their end.

1997

The 2nd season of our 80 game once a week short league has seven weeks to go. With no wild cards in this league it’s all down to winning divisions and 3 of the four are still very much in play. Because of the structure of the league ( 2 games series vs opposite league, 3 game series vs opposite division and 4 game series within divisions) and the fact that the final three series are all in division there is the potential of as much as a 12 game shift in the last 3 weeks.

TeamWinsLossesPCTGBClinch/Elim #
New York4318.705—-
Cleveland3526.574812
Baltimore2932.475146
Boston2536.410182
ALEast

Led By Tony Gwynn who is threatening .400 (.395) and leading the majors in hits and the AL in OBP while 3rd in the league in RBI the Yanks are dominating with the best record by far helped by Andres Galarraga who leads the majors in RBI, Todd Jones who leads the majors in saves, Workhorse Andy Pettitte who leads the majors in fewest HR per 9 innings despite being 6th in Innings and Todd Stottlemyre 2nd in the AL in ERA & 4th in Avg against behind teammate Dustin Hermanson who is 3rd in the AL while 5th in k’s per 9 inn. Realistically only the Indians are still in play whose cause has not been helped by Eric Gunderson leading the AL in blown saves despite the efforts of Jeff Blauser getting on base and Matt Stairs knocking them out and driving them in.

TeamWinsLossesPCTGBClinch/Elim #
Seattle3625.590—-
Chicago3326.559219
Minnesota3129.5174 1/216
Toronto2239.361146
ALWest

In the wild wild AL west only Toronto is on the way out. Seattle leads Thanks to Ken Griffey Jr. 31 HR 13 more than anyone else in the majors and Randy Johnson carrying them on their backs (1st in Majors in K/9 tied for 1st in wins 2nd in K’s overall, innings pitched & avg against, with help from Alex Rodriguez (4th in AL hits). Unlike today’s White Sox these guys are only one game away in the loss column with Jeff Shaw providing the saves while Frank Thomas the big hurt provides the offense with Mike Cameron getting on base ahead of him and J. T Snow Slugging along. Meanwhile the Twins are still in striking distance thanks to Pedro Martinez who leads in all the categories that Johnson is 2nd in and Chuck Knobloch who has been a stolen base and runs machine. Billy Wagner helps out with 11 saves 2nd in both AL & Majors but his three blown saves haven’t helped.

TeamWinsLossesPCTGBClinch/Elim #
Atlanta3823.623—-
Cincinnati3526.574317
Pittsburgh2734.443119
Florida2638.40613 1/25
NLEast

Atlanta maintains a 3 game lead thanks to Greg Maddux, Rick Reed and Francisco Cordova all in the top 10 in ERA in the majors and Mariano Rivera who has saved 10 while blowing only one while Larry Walker (NL batting & Slugging lead) Tino Martinez (2nd NL slugging) provide the offense. Cincinnati with a below avg pitching stall and wracked by injury are kept alive by the return of Rickey Henderson and Lance Johnson from the DL. Pittsburgh recent 7-3 run has given them hope but the real story is last years World Series runner up Florida who despite Mark McGuire leading the league in HR, Barry Bonds leading the majors in walks and triples and Curt Schilling & Keven Brown both being top 4 in NL ERA and 1 & 2 in NL inning pitched can’t seem to get a break

TeamWinsLossesPCTGBClinch/Elim #
St. Louis2931.483—-
Los Angeles2932.4751/220
San Diego2435.4074 1/217
Houston2638.406514
NLWest

The bad news is the NL west has four teams under .500 the good news is that there is only 5 game separating the 1st and last place teams meaning that likely all four teams will be in the thick of it till the end. St. Louis has Ray Lankford and Vinnie Castilla (2nd in NL HR) and David Cone keeping them up. LA counters with Ismael Valdez 1st in the NL in avg against, WHIP & ERA carrying the team on his back. San Diego (Kenny Loftin & Billy Ripkin) and Houston (Craig Biggio , Brady Anderson ) both have stars helping them out but alas for SD while Hoffman leads the league in saves he is 2nd in Blown saves while Antonio Osuna has been even worse saving seven while blowing six most in the majors.

1972

In the 1972 league there is a lot less mystery in terms of division leaders but because of the three wild card spots in each league it’s still interesting.

TeamWinsLosses PCTGBWCGBElim #
New York9949.669—N/AClinched
California 7672.51423+ 1 1/2E/7 to clinch
Cleveland6880.459327 1/2E/9
Kansas City5986.40738 1/215E/3
Baltimore5989.3994016 1/2E
AL ALPHA

The only question left for the Yankees is will they get home field advantage over the Giants if they get to the World Series. Their return to the Polo Grounds with their short left and right field has given Bobby Murcer, Reggie Smith and rookie John Maybury a grand slugging boost while Terry Forster has been light out leading the majors in saves. California led by Tommy John (1st in ERA) had the 1st wild card for a while but a 2-8 skid has hurt along with Tom Bradley (2nd in Losses). They currently have the 2nd wild card but is close enough to get the 1st and the bye or drop to 3rd. With 16 to go they still need 6 more wins to secure that playoff birth so they need Manny Mota and Jose Cardenal to heat up. Cleveland seemed totally out of it but the aforementioned crash of California and Minnesota and a 6-4 run has kept them alive. Kansas City’s Bert Blyleven led the majors in innings and the AL in strikeouts and vet Frank Robinson put up a good fight in a losing cause while Baltimore had three players (Don Baylor, Amos Otis and Rick Auerbach) in the top 10 of stolen bases

TeamWinsLosses PCTGBWCGBElim #
Milwaukee9454.635—N/AClinched
Boston7870.52716+ 3 1/2E/5 to clinch
Minnesota7471.51018 1/2—-E/9 to clinch
Oakland6682.4462810 1/2E/7
Washington6385.4263119 1/2E/4
AL Beta

Milwaukee returns to the playoffs thanks to a bounce back season from Pete Rose, and exceptional season from Ron Fairly and spectacular pitching from Ken Holtzman and last year’s Cy Young winner Don Wilson with Ken Sanders returning to save 20. Boston’s 8-2 run propelled them from the 3rd wildcard to the first led by Carl Yastrzemski whose return to Fenway has him leading the AL in batting (.330) and tied with Pete Rose for the MLB lead in OBP while rookie Carlton Fisk is doubling up a storm. Minnesota has been crashing and burning but still has Nate Colbert and his 33 HR keeping them going. Their 3 game series vs Cleveland will be critical. Oakland’s surprise sweep of Milwaukee has kept them technically alive with some help from Jim Brewer and Roy White while Washington hopes have maybe one more week left unless Mike Epstein and workhorse Jim Kaat and Richie Scheinblum (91 runs 182 hits) can pull off a miracle

TeamWinsLosses PCTGBWCGBElim #
New York 8863.583—N/ATo clinch 12/ 3
Atlanta8563.5741 1/2+ 4To Clinch 15/3
Cincinnati 8167.5475 1/2—-9/10 to clinch
Oakland6682.4462810 1/2E/7
Philadelphia6784.4442115 1/2E/E
NL Alpha

The surging New York Daytraders (Mets) have gone 25-7 in their last 32 games (.781) to roar into 1st place with starting Pitchers Phil Niekro (21 wins), Tom Seaver (20 wins) and Steve Carlton (22 wins) and the group(1, 2 & 3 in NL inning pitched add to that big years from Willie Stargell, Leron Lee, Dick Allen and Willie Mays who is constantly walked to get on base for them they’re on their way to a return to the playoffs but despite a change in managers Atlanta who is even in the loss column led by likely MVP Billy Williams along with Catfish Hunter (23 wins 2nd in MLB) and Fergie Jenkins aren’t giving up that division lead that they’ve held most of the year without a fight. Meanwhile the big Red Machine of Cincinnati with Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Bobby Tolan are only 5 1/2 out of first while 5 up for the last wild card. The St. Louis Cardinals led by Bob Gibson (21 Wins 1st in MLB in HR/9) and Matty Alou (.330 avg) and closer Darold Knowles (23 saves) have no intention of going quietly. Philly might be out of this this year, but with Joe Torrie being joined by rookies Greg Luzinski and a young 3rd baseman named Schmidt are sure to be a threat in 73

TeamWinsLosses PCTGBWCGBElim #
San Francisco9850.662—N/A1 to Clinch
Pittsburgh8464.56814+ 31/ to clinch 7
Montreal6781.4533114E/1
Chicago5692.3784225E
Los Angeles42106.2845639E
NL Beta

The 1970 World Champion Giants are one win away from clinching the NL Beta with 24 game winner Jim Palme 2nd in the NL in ERA 1.98 leading the way and Dock Ellis 2.01 ERA right behind him Meanwhile Bobby Bonds (90 runs 102 RBI 30 SB) is seeing a ton of pitchers as rookie Darryl Evans (123 BB 1st in MLB) and Veteran Harmon Killebrew (90 BB) keep the fear of God in pitchers along with a powerful rookie named Dave Kingman. Gaylord Perry of the Pirates leads the Majors in ERA and has 22 wins to go with it while bullpen ace Mike Marshall has chalked up 23 saves along with a still dangerous Hank Aaron (29 HR 98 walks ) all are conspiring to keep the 2nd wild card spot in the Bucks hands and are certainly in range of that #1 wild card spot. The young Montreal Team are a game from elimination but pitcher Baylor Moore who leads the majors in K/9 (11.72) and Lou Brock (52 sb 1st in majors & .326 avg) and closer Tug McGraw (31 saves) made it a fight. The Cubs can look back at Steve Brawn .333 avg 3rd in NL and Pitcher Mike Paul while last years Series winner the LA Dodgers combo of Don Sutton (3rd in WHIP) and Nolan Ryan (1st in Majors in avg against .165 & 2nd in K/9 11.19 are unlikely to stay down for long.

If you are interested in joining either league we currently have one opening in 1997 and people joining the waiting list for 1972 are welcome. If we get 4 people on the list we’ll expand.

Quick Thoughts Rights and Wrong, Elon #freestacy, Undercover Honeypots, Vets die and the WW 2 and the revisionists strike, Pathetic White Sox, Caitlyn Clark as Babe Ruth, How Great was Ruth, Indians have hope, Mahomes, Brady and everyone else

Posted: September 7, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, Dynasty, dynasty baseball, fun, gaming, internet/free speech, News/opinion, nfl, Sports, tech, twitter
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was just thinking…

Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do, to wit: While you might have the right to buy your son an AR-15 as a gift even after he has been investigated by the FBI as a potential school shooter but as a father I submit it’s the wrong thing to do.

I simply don’t understand why Elon Musk’s twitter/X/whatever stubbornly refuses to re-instate Robert Stacy McCain. He was one of the first conservatives banned by twitter for the monstrous crime of quoting Radical feminists in their very own words and while there have been many others whose have been re-platformed on twitter Stacy is not one of them.

The number of lonely liberal men in the world must be high because between James O’Keefe OMG, Project Veritas and now Stephen Crowder there seems to be a limitless supply of such men willing to spill their guts to a honey pot who shows interest in them. Hey somebody has to be paying the money to those only fans models.

I think it’s no coincidence that the rise in antisemitism and the attempts to re-write the history of World War 2 (particularly the holocaust) are taking place when the youngest world war 2 vets alive are 97 years old. You don’t have a Dick Winters to come on TV to call them out anymore.

The best move that Dwight D Eisenhower ever did was making every US soldier who was able to see the camps so they couldn’t be denied. I distinctly remember Andy Rooney talking about seeing the camps one day but I (unexpectedly) can’t find the video anywhere.

The Red Sox broke their losing streak by beating the worst team in baseball history The 2024 Chicago White Sox whose current winning Percentage (.225) is a full .025 points behind the legendary 1962 Mets (.250). With 20 games to go The White Sox will have to go 9-11 to avoid the new “Worst Team EVAH!” title (.450). I just don’t see that happening.

Speaking of the NY Mets winning percentage from 2017 – 2023 the Indiana Heat of the WNBA have a combined winning percentage equal to those 62 Mets (58-74) with no playoff appearances, no winning records. In 2022 their winning percentage was .139 (5-31). This season they have clinched one of the 8 playoff spots currently holding 6th but mathematically could still finish as high as 4th or as low as 7th. That’s how much of an impact has Caitlyn Clark has on her Indiana Fever team. That’s a Babe Ruth class impact.

To put that last phrase in context in the 12 season years before Babe Ruth joined the NY Yankees (Highlanders till 1913) they had managed only two winning seasons. Not only would they would not have a losing record with Ruth on the roster (1918-1934) but the Babe would not live to see them have a losing season. He would die in 1948 and they would not have a losing season until 1965

In my 1972 online baseball league by all rights the Cleveland Indians season should be finished. They sit at 68 – 80 with 14 to play 7 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins who currently hold the final wild card spot in the AL. However not only have the Twins been collapsing spectacularly (2-8 in last 10) but they get three head to head games vs them next with a chance to get themselves back in it and have a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way. Alas for them the only team with an easier schedule, are those same Twins.

Finally the NFL season has started and will have their first full set of games this Sunday. They opened with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Baltimore Ravens setting Patrick Mahomes on the path to another playoff season. How Dominant is Mahomes he has only lost 3 playoff games in his career and only one to a quarterback not named Tom Brady. How dominant are the pair of them? More than half of the Superbowls played in the 21st Century have had at least one of them playing in it (Brady 10, Mahomes 4) and the soonest that can no longer be true is 2027.

Can the White Sox Win 11 More Games or Will They Surpass the 1962 Mets in Futility?

Posted: August 19, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, Sports, Uncategorized
Tags:

The Whitesox stand at a 30-95 record as of Monday Morning.

The 1962 Mets went 40-120 for .250 winning percentage.

With 162 games 40 wins would give the White Sox a winning percentage below .250 so they need 11 rather than 10 more wins to surpass the Mets and avoid being the worst team in MLB history since 1900.

Here is the remaining White Sox Schedule:

  • at SF Giants (3)
  • vs Detroit Tigers (4)
  • vs Texas Rangers (3)
  • vs NY Mets (3)
  • at Baltimore Orioles (3)
  • at Boston Redsox (3)
  • vs Cleveland Indians (I refuse to call them anything else) (3)
  • vs Oakland A’s (3)
  • at California Angels (3)
  • at San Diego Padres (3)
  • vs California Angels (3)
  • at Detroit Tigers (3)

In theory they could manage to get to 11 wins without winning or even splitting a single series. All they have to do is win a single game in each of those series and viola 12 wins and they avoid ignominy.

Alas the Redsox, Orioles, Indians, Mets Padres and even the Giants are all in division or wild card races and will have a real incentive to try to sweep the easiest remaining games on their schedules. If only half of those teams manage a sweep that means to avoid replacing the 1962 mets at the bottom of the barrel the White sox would have to

  • split their 4 game set with Detroit
  • win at least one of their remaining series
  • and not be swept by any non-playoff team

Can they do it? I have absolutely no idea but it will be fun to find out, unless you’re a White Sox fan.

It does however give one a reason for following the team.

If things go as bad as I suspect they will I’m the White sox front office I arrange for the surviving members of the 62 Mets to attend any game where the White Sox can clinch the worst record of all time and arrange for a ceremony where a member of the 62 Mets (Ed Kranepool?) gives them the fickle finger of fate award a-la Laugh-In if they manage to do so.

If you’re going to go down you might as well celebrate it.

Older Entries
Newer Entries