Well our Dynasty 1971 league playoffs were slow in starting but we have finally reached the world series which finished before I finished writing this post: Here is a rundown of how the playoffs went:
AL Wildcard Series: Washington Senators vs California Angels
The Senators came in as big favorites winning game one 4-3 needing one more win at home to clinch but the angels rallied to win game two Tommy John beating Jim Kaat 7-5. Game three was a shocker as Juan Marichall who came in 3rd in the Cy Young voting collapsed and the angels held back a Senators rally to win game 3 7-5 to take the series.
NL Wildcard Series Atlanta Braves vs Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies behind MVP Joe Torre took game one at home 7-6 but the Braves 1-2 punch of Jenkins and Cuellar were too much for the Phils as they took game 2 6-5 and game 3 11-2 to coast to a wild card win.
AL Divisional Round Baltimore Orioles vs California Angels
Tom Bradley shut out the O’s in game 1 3-0 and it looked like another upset was in the works but Baltimore outlasted the angels winning game 2 2-1 in 11 innings and Mickey Lolich and Ray Culp combined to finish them off winning game 3 5-3 and game 4 11-2 to get to the League Championship series
AL Divisional Round Oakland A’s vs Kansas City Royals
Oakland led the AL West from start to finish on the back of excellent pitching but they had nothing on the Royals as Lew Krausse and Bert Blyleven shut out the A’s back to back to start the series winning game one 1-0 beating Vida Blue and game two 2-0 stopping Sonny Siebert. In game 3 the A’s finally got on the board for three runs but the Royals scored five to sweep the series three games to none.
National League Divisional Series
New York Daytraders (mets) vs Chicago Cubs
The Daytraders won 110 games this season and were a heavy favorite vs the wild card cubs and Tom Seaver’s game one win 3-2 put them on the right track. The Cubs won game 2 7-4 to even the series but the Daytraders behind Steve Carlton took game three 7-5 and needed only one more to get to the pennant game. It was not to be, the Cubs took game four 4-2 and managed to hit Tom Seaver in game 5 to pull off the upset 5-1 to clinch the series.
National League Divisional Series Los Angeles Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves
The Dodgers won 111 games in the series and dominated almost every team they faced and this series was no different. Cy Young winner Don Wilson won game one 5-2 and while the Braves managed to score six against Hoerner the Dodgers shelled Catfish Hunter and took game two 8-6. Finally Don Sutton 3rd in the Cy Young vote shut down the Braves again and the Dodgers got to Cuellar beating then 6-1 in a clean sweep.
NL Championship series Los Angels Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs
The Cubs fairy tale ride ended with the Dodgers as the Dodgers pitching staff held the cubs to 7 runs the entire series With Don Wilson winning two games (Game 1 3-1 and game 4 4-2). The only Cubs win came in game three when Clyde Wright shut out LA to give the Cubs a 1-0 win. The Dodgers took game two 6-3 and Don Sutton shut out Chicago again to put the finishing touch with a 7-0 win.
American League Championship Series Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals.
The American League East was the only Division in the league that was still in play in the final month of the season and it came down to the last two series before Baltimore outlasted the Royals for the division title but in game one the Royals got four in the 3rd (two thanks to a rare Mark Belanger error) and three more on a Harmon Killebrew shot on their way to a 9-6 win. In game two after trading homers between Stargell, Powel & Tenace the Royals broke loose with Stargell driving in another in the 5th and one of two in the 7th which was enough to hold off another Baltimore comeback to win 7-5. While the Orioles behind Lolich doubled up KC 6-3 to make the series two games to one three KC pitchers combined to shut out the birds in game four 3-0 and then jumped to a 4-0 lead that held up against the Orioles 3rd determined 9th inning rally of the series (The Orioles outscored the Royals 9-1 in the 9th inning of the series) to hang on for a 4-3 win and a trip to the series.
World Series Los Angeles Dodgers vs Kansas City Royals
Game one at LA: Blyleven vs Wilson
It was a pitching duel for the ages Cy Young winner Don Wilson only gave up one run on five hits in seven innings and the LA bullpen didn’t give up a hit but Bert Blyleven still got the win as he shut down the Dodgers for 5 innings on two hits before coming out with a stiff arm and the bullpen took over giving up only two single and no walks over the final four innings
Royals 1 Dodgers 0 WP Blyleven LP Wilson Royals up 1-0
Game two at LA Stoneman vs Nolan
The game went back and forth with the teams trading single runs the KC in the top of the 1st, LA in the bottom of the 1st & 2nd, KC in the 4th and LA in the 5th to take a one run and then a two run lead with one in the 7th until Darryl Evans three run shot off Roger Nelson put the game out of reach.
Dodgers 7 Royals 2 WP Nolan LP Stoneman Series tied 1-1
Game Three at Kansas City Sutton vs Helnund
For the 2nd time in the series LA put a top 3 Cy Young vote getter on the mound and for the 2nd time he came up the loser as the Royals scored 4 in the first three innings and capped things off with a Killebrew HR in the 8th wasting Lou Brock’s 3 RBI 2-5 game as the Royals behind Hedlund 7 innings and three runs doubled up LA.
Royals 6 Dodgers 3 WP Hedlund LP Sutton Save Scherman KC leads 2-1
Game Four at KC Wilson vs Splittorff
Down two games to one the Dodgers brought back Cy Young winner Don Wilson on three days rest and he didn’t disappoint going the full nine innings and again giving up only a single run. While the Royals were able to shut out the Dodgers in 8 of 9 innings a one out single by Leo Cardenas followed by a 414 foot shot from of all people Andy Etchebarren capped a four run 4th which was more than enough support for Wilson to even things up.
Dodgers 4 Royals 1 WP Wilson (1-1) LP Splittorff Series tied at two
Game 5 at KC Blyleven vs Nolan
A three run shot by Killebrew in the 5th off Nolan gave Kansas City the edge. LA answered with two off of Blyleven in the 6th to make it a one run game. The Royals added insurance with a one out single off of Fingers in the 7th but the Dodgers took advantage of an Enzo Hernandez error to start the 9th the Dodgers to load the bases off of closer Fred Scherman who gave up a pinch single to Dave Campbell to tie the game. Ironically Scherman would get the win when after a Mike Hershberger walk with one out Dave Cash put a Ron Klimkowski pitch into the gap which rolled all the way to the wall allowing Hershberger to score from first and put the Royals on the verge of an upset.
Royals 5 Dodgers 4 WP Scherman LP Klimkowski Royals lead series 3-2
Game 6 at LA Stoneman vs Sutton
With their backs against the wall the Dodgers jumped all over Stoneman with five runs in the first three innings and added another 3 on Darryl Evans 3 run shot in the 6th. That was more than enough for Sutton who despite giving up 3 in the 8th (1 earned) held on to both even the series and his record in it and force a 7th game.
Dodgers 8 Royals 4 WP Sutton (1-1) LP Stoneman (0-2)
Game Seven at LA Wilson vs Hedlund
Don Wilson made this 3rd start of the series and his 2nd on three days rest and the Dodgers again gave him some run support as Willie McCovey hit a solo shot off of Hedlund to start the game and the Dodgers added 2 in the bottom of the 2nd , a solo shot by Evans added a solo shot to start the 4th and another run on a key error spotting them to a 5-0 lead. And while AL MVP Willie Stargell (.200 avg) finally homered for his first RBI of the series and Killebrew drove in a run in the 9th that was a few feet from making it a one run game Wilson hung on with the tying runs on 1st and 2nd with two out to get Jerry Kenney to ground into the final out of the series and secure both the victory and the series MVP
LA 5 KC 2 WP Wilson (2-1) LP Hedlund (1-1) Dodgers win series 4-3.
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