These Writeups are about the 2nd Round of the AL Playoffs. All Series are five games.
Red Sox vs Yankees
RedSox
The Boston RedSox Offensive / Defensive/ Pitching evaluation was done in the Wild card round and Can be found in full here. Fast Summery Strong offense led by Yaz and Fisk, Tied for Top defense in MLB, Pitching, one ace (Nolan) and the rest average with no real closer.
Round 1 vs Angels Game 1 at Anaheim Stadium Gary Nolan Vs Tom Bradley
Game 1 was a true pitchers duel with Redsox Ace Gary Nolan facing Tom Bradley of the 18 losses. The first run came from a leadoff Bill Plummer Solo shot in the 3rd giving the Angels a 1-0. The Red Sox took the lead in the 6th when with two outs light hitting Doug Griffin hit a shot into the Gap that Manny Mota couldn’t catch up to. He end up on 2nd and Yaz immediately drove him with a single to center Griffin beating the throw from Moralas which allowed Yaz to get to 2nd which didn’t matter much since Willie Davis walked putting runners on 1st and Second for Carlton Fisk to singled to center with Yaz motoring home to make it 2-1.
That is all that Bradley would give up the three hits in the 6th were fully half of Boston’s total as Bradly pitched a fine game, alas for the Halo Nolan did even better. Not only did the Angels not get near another run but no Angel got to the plate with a runner in scoring position for Nolan’s 9 innings of work
Red Sox 2 Angels 1 WP Nolan 1-0 LP Bradley 0-1 HR Plumber (1)
Game 2 at Fenway Park Woodie Fryman vs Rick Wise
For the 2nd game in a row California struck first via the longball. In the top of the 1st with two outs Jose Cardinal put a ball over the wall in Right center scoring Bobby Valentine giving the Angels a 2-0 lead. It would have been 3-0 except Wes Parker once again demonstrated his glove at first robbing Manny Mota of a double on a shot down the line.
The lead was cut to one in the bottom of the 2nd when after a pair of walks Doug Griffin singled in Rico Petrocelli but in the top of the 3rd the Angles got it back as Tommy McCraw tripled to center with one out and Bobby Valentine singled him in. Manny Mota followed with a single which could have led to a big inning but wise struck out Cardinal and Morales lined to 3rd to kill the rally. The Sox Answered back again as Fisk put a two out fastball over the monster and the lead was back to 3-2.
In the 5th the Red Sox pitcher Rick Wise helped his own cause by legging out a slow roller that Bobby Valentine couldn’t get to first in time. This would prove critical as with two outs Ollie Brown put one in the gap scoring him all the way from first and the game was tied.
And tied it would stay both teams would threaten in the 8th without success and in the 9th after reaching on an error Dave Conception tried to make it to 3rd when Leroy Stanton hitting for Fryman singled to center but Vada Pinson who had just moved to center threw a strike to Rico Petrocelli for the 2nd out and Wise put out the fire. Angel closer Clay Carroll retired the Sox in order in the 9th and we went to Extras.
Wise would remain in until the top of the 11th when he came out after retiring the first 2. and Joe Horlen came in and promptly grooved a ball to Bill Plumber for his 2nd round tripper of the series.
With victory in their grasp and their playoff hopes on the line they left Carroll in for a 3rd inning which proved costly. He would walk lead off man Vada Pinson who would move to 2nd on a grounder to 3rd and would easily score on a double to left center tying the game. Davis would get to 3rd with two outs when Jack Aker came in and coaxed a pinch hit ground out from Norm Miller and we went to the 12th
After a leadoff single Al Severinsen retired California in order in the top of the inning. Aker would be saved from trouble by a great diving stop by Tommy McGraw keeping Wes Parker from a sure double but his luck would run out when Ollie Brown who only had 2 Homeruns all season for his worst slugging year in his career made Red Sox fans forget this by lifting a ball just over the wall to send the Redsox to a meeting with their longtime rivals from New York.
Boston 5 California 4 WP Severinsen 1-0 LP Aker (0-1) HR Plumber (2), Cardenal (1), Fisk (1), Brown (1)
New York Yankees 111-51 1st Place AL Alpha Division (#1 seed)
Offense: Whoever said “You can’t go home again” apparently never saw this Yankee team whose offense was completely invigorated by their return to the Polo Grounds as Yankees lead the majors in every offensive category except walks (2nd in AL 5th in majors) Stolen bases (3rd in AL 7th in majors) and at bats (1st in AL 2nd in Majors). The top three slugging percentages in the American league belonged to Bobby Murcer (.591+065 over 1971), young John Mayberry (.550 +.291 over 1971) and Reggie Smith (.528 +007 over 1971) Murcer’s HR total went from 23 to 36 Mayberry’s from 5 (in 104 games) to 35 (in 162) and Smith from 20 (in 162 games) to 30 (in 160). Oddly the move didn’t figure in Murcer’s numbers has he hit 10 more homers and slugged a full .197 points higher on the road (.488 vs .685) meanwhile Roberto Clemente hit .290 and drove in 90 while Ron Santo who was floundering in Cincy (.162 0 HR 6 RBI in 29 games) before being dealt to NY soared (.326 13 HR 75 RBI). Put simply they’ve been an offensive monster.
Defense: With so much offense you likely don’t need much defense but the Yanks were above slightly above average. Both Thurman Munson and Ed Kirkpatrick threw out more runners than they allowed to steal. Ron Santo took the 3B job from Bill Melton and ran with it defensively. Horace Clark proved just as good as Doug Griffin who was dealt to Boston early in the season. Clemente only threw out 4 but almost nobody tried to take an extra base against him however Reggie’s Smith’s 9 errors in the outfield were rather high and both Steve Kline and Terry Forster where adventures on the mound if the ball was hit to them.
Pitching: If the Yankees offense wasn’t enough their pitching staff managed the top ERA in the AL (2.96 3rd overall) and the 2nd lowest Avg against in the AL as well (.239) Meanwhile their bullpen saved 45 of 57 however their 116 HR allowed were the 3rd most in the AL & majors but given the dimensions of the Polo Grounds not a huge surprise. Mike Paul & Bob Moose were tied for 2nd in the AL for ERA (2.42) Terry Forester led the AL with 34 saves and Steve Kline and Bob Moose were top 8 in the majors for not giving up walks. Put simply with 3 20 Game winners (Wilbur Wood, Moose and Steve Kline) all of who had over 200 innings they are a force to be reckoned with.
Series one Yankees at Boston April:
Game one was a back and forth affair with six lead changes till it was even at 9 after 9 but in the bottom of the 10th Vada Pinson singled to start the 10th followed by a Triple from Wes Parker to win the game. In Game 2 Roberto Clemente doubled in one run and John Mayberry homered for 2 more in the 6th and Celerino Sanchez tripled in two runs more. Both Fisk and Yaz drove in runs in the 8th but it wasn’t enough and Forester picked up the save for 6-4 Yankees win. A two run shot by Parker and an RBI double by Yaz gave the Redsox a 4-0 lead but Bobby Murcer hit a solo shot in the 8th and the Yanks managed 5 in the 9th including a Reggie Smith homerun giving Yankees a lead that Forester would hold.
Series Two June in NY
The Redsox simply pounded the yanks with a solo shot by Davis a two run shot by Yaz and a three run shot by Rico Petrocelli. Rick Wise threw a complete game giving up 4 which was more than good enough to secure a 9-4 win. In game two after an early exchange of runs the Yanks took the lead with a 3 run 7th with a bases loaded fielders choice plus and a 2 run single giving Wilbur Wood a win and 3rd save for Forster in game 2 and his 4th save in game 3 with a Reggie Smith solo shot and a three run shot by John Mayberry giving Mike Paul the win
Series 3 Aug in Boston:
The Yanks went 8-18 with runners in scoring position allowing them to build a 6-3 lead for which was enough to hold off a 2 run rally in the 9th. In game 2 three Redsox pitchers combined to shut out the Yanks which meant that RBI doubles from Fisk and Griffin and a single from Petrocelli were more than enough to win. In the 3rd game the game remained even at 3 in the ninth but in the end Rick Wise could not hold off a rally with runs scored on a passed ball and a single from Gene Tenace.
Series 4 Sept in NY
The Redsox won a costly victory in game one when he ended up out for 3 series after diving for a ball in left a bases loaded grounder and a Doug Griffin single drove in 2 and a single and flyout in the 9th gave two more runs to secure a 4-1 win for Gary Nolan. In game 2 the Yanks scored 10 including 5 in the first 2 innings and five more on 17 hits while Bob Moose surrendered only 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 11. In game 3 again things went back and forth and the Yanks took a lead in the 5th on a Clemente single and handed the ball to Terry Forster who had saved 4 vs the Sox but the fifth time was the charm for Boston as he made a key error with two on to load the bases allowing Wes Parker to single in the tying and winning run for a 5-4 Red Sox win.
Season series Yanks 7-5
The Pick: The Red Sox are a good team with a lot of fine young players who will give the Yankees grief and they played the Yanks tough all season but with excellent pitching and overpowering offence I can’t see the Redsox pulling this one off. Yanks in 4.
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