Posts Tagged ‘Minnesota Twins’

Dynasty 1973 League Wild Card Preview Indians vs Twins, Cubs vs Braves

Posted: July 10, 2025 by datechguy in baseball, fun, gaming, online gaming
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Well it’s playoff time again in our Dynasty 1973 league and we begin with the best of 3 series Wild card games

Indians 80-82 vs Twins 80-82 (Twins won season series 7-5)

For a while it wasn’t sure that the Indians would make the playoffs, the Yankees, Senators and A’s all made runs but they finished strong to secure a playoff spot.

As always they are led by their bash brothers Tony Perez (23 HR 114 RBI’s) and Sal Bando (28 HR 93 RBI’s) but they had a lot of help from Catcher George Mitterwald and Dave May who who both managed to add over 20 HR each (25 & 20) to be part of the power supply hit not to mention Mitterwald’s glove behind the plate and May’s 14 outfield assists to help things out. Their strength isn’t just the long ball. The team’s .261 avg lead the junior circuit. With Mark Belanger and Dave McAuliffe up the middle the defense is pretty solid. Of playoff teams only Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have better fielding stats than Cleveland.

On the Mound Jon Matlack has been the leader (22-11) but after that it becomes very ordinary with Mickey Lolich (10-15 5.17) , Bob Moose (6-12 4.83) and Steve Busby acquired from Cincy (4-8 4.89) all being very average. Only Alan Foster has an ERA below 4 and didn’t manage a winning record (9-11 3.82) On the plus side no AL team gave up less Home runs (102)

Secret Weapon: Dick McAuliffe who hit .556 with 17 RBI with the bases loaded

The Job is for Matlack to win his game and for the bats to come through for someone else can they do that vs the Twins?

Minnesota Twins 80-82

The Twins have one great bat in Al Oliver .300 27 HR 108 RBI and one very good bat in Richie Hebner (.282 21 HR 91 RBI) who have spent a lot of time driving in Bob Watson (91 Runs scored 90 walks). Oliver has also provided great defense with Bobby Grich taking plenty of hits away from left handed batters and Catcher Ray Fosse throwing out 14 of 21 trying to steal.

But the real strength of the Twins comes from their killer closer Sparky Lyle (7-1 0.86 ERA with 33 saves in 39 chances. Their starting rotation Ross Grimsley (11-10 3.63) , Dave McNally (15-15 3.92 ) and Doyle Alexander (11-9 4,28) have been very average but if they can get the ball to Lyle it’s pretty much all over. He has gotten some help from Cecil Upshaw who spent a fair time on the DL has come back to hold batters to a .214 avg with a WHIP of 0.94

Secret Weapon Lou Pinella who batted .314 with 6 HR and 21 RBI vs LHP

Peter’s Pick On paper the Indians offense outdoes the Twins particularly when facing avg pitching, They hit 50% more homers but Because Matlock pitched game 162 we’re not likely to see him for the opener and that means the twins get a shot against the tribe’s B team. Their pitching overall is practically equal other than the tribe being HR adverse. Logic and the overall stats says Cleveland takes the day but my gut tells me the Twins are able to get leads which means Sparky Lyle ends the discussion, if however they get to a game 3 then the Indians ace gives them an advantage but their closer Ray Corbin is 18 of 24 but I suspect the twins won’t let it get that far and their park doesn’t favor the long ball. Again all logic says otherwise but I’m going with my gut.

Twins in 2

Chicago Cubs 79-83 at Atlanta Bravos (Braves) (86-76) Season Series Even at 5-5

Chicago Cubs

Jeff Buroghes has come in to his own and Rusty Staub put up the best numbers of his career last season Danny Cater managed to hit .356 in 100 games. Meanwhile Steve Garvey put up solid numbers at the plate but exceptional numbers in the field (.994) but however good Garvey and Patek did in the field it pales before Tito Fuentes who has only committed a single error in over 1400 innings and 700+ chances. Everyone knows Freddie Patek is best known for his glove and only hit .210 but he also managed 10 triples to make his a danger to any pitcher and stole 11 bases in 13 chances.

On the mound Burt Hooton (14-10 3.10) and Rich Reuschel (13-10 3,13) have put up pretty good numbers for playing half the season in a hitter’s park and left Jerry Koosman’s 10-11 3.57 has been more than adequate but the bottom pair in the rotation Dick Tidrow (3-15) & Milt Pappas (6-10) have been horrible. Closer John Hiller has managed 26 saves in 34 chances holding hitters to a .199 avg. have combined fore a 9-25 record.

As for their fielding, the less said about the Cubs defense the better, the bad news is they were the 2nd worst fielding team in the majors, the good news is Atlanta was the worst.

Secret Weapon: Long ball averse. Desipte playing in one of the ultimate HR parks and playing all day games Cubs pitchers gave up only 108 HR this season. Only 3 teams gave up fewer

It’s a short series so the Cubs can keep Tidrow & Pappas for garbage time, will that be enough to win?

Atlanta Bravos (Braves)

Last season Atlanta was favored to go to the series but was eliminated early. While they weren’t able to repeat the division they had a strong season despite Dick Allen spending most of it on the DL or on KC. Caesar Cedeno picked up the slack with a triple crown quality line .324 39 HR 110 RBI but after him while many players had respectable number from Al Kaline: (.275 12 HR 58 RBI) to Dusty Baker (.254 19 HR 87 RBI) nobody else brought star power at the bat although Paul Schaal hit .294 and scored 94 runs

The stars were on the mount with Catfish Hunter (16-11 3.25) & Fergie Jenkins (21-16 3.45) giving a powerful 1-2 punch with Rollie Fingers picking up 18 saves and 8 wins with an ERA of 2.80 (along with starting two games). Despite blowing 5 of 7 save chances workhorse reliever Tom HIlgendorf went 11-5 and put in over 100 innings on the mound.

In the field the Bravos were the single worst fielding team in all the majors which makes the performances of Hunter and Jenkins even more impressive.

Secret weapon: Norm Cash hit .294 with runners in scoring position and two outs alas he now plays for KC.

Peter’s pick. At first glance the Braves would seem to have the advantage based on their overall record and their 1-2 punch on the mound but the Cubs top 3 are almost as good and managed to give up over 50 fewer HR’s as a team. Combine this with Dick Allen not expected to be back until late in the next series and it seems to me we’re going to have at least one more day playoff game once this series is over.

Cubs in 3.

1972 Dynasty League Playoffs Divisional Round Minnesota at Milwaukee

Posted: October 3, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
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Minnesota Twins 87-75 13 GB 2nd AL Beta Division 3rd seed (1st Wildcard)

Offense: One Word Power. The Twins were 2nd only to the Yankess in HR with 148 as a team and six players with double digit dingers. Their offense begins with Nate Colbert whose 35 HR and 118 RBI’s were by far both career bests. He was ably supported by Richie Hebner ( .288 25HR 85 RBI 101 Runs scored) and Bobby Darwin (.262 24 HR 68 RBI). Young Bobby Grich despite a .233 avg and a .304 OBP managed to hit 28 doubles and score 85 runs. Bob Watson led the team in hitting at .310 and managed 18 Homers of his own. Al Oliver and Catcher Ray Fossie rounded out the double digit brigade.

Defense: The Twins didn’t skimp on defense 3rd in the AL and 5th overall Ray Fossie led a Catching staff that threw out over 50% of those trying to run. The infield of Colbert (1b), Grich (2b), Hebner (3B) and Metzer was one of the best in the game. Oliver and Darwin were solid in left and right while the Centerfield by Committee (Jim Northrup, Al Oliver, Angel Mangual and Bobby Darwin combined to throw out 26 runners and turn 7 double plays.

Pitching: While the twins were proficient in hitting home runs their 101 allowed was 3rd fewest in the AL. Furthermore they 8 blown saves in 39 chances was 4th best in the majors and 3rd best in the AL. The rotation has an ace starter with Steve Blass (22-11 2.82 ERA) and an ace closer in Sparky Lyle (1-2 20 SV in 24 chances 2.59 ERA) and four relivers with at least 26 appearances who have a WHIP below 1.20

Milwaukee Brewers 100-62 1st place AL Beta (2nd Seed)

Offense: Only California had fewer HR in the AL than Milwaukee’s 82 yet their .358 slugging percentage was 4th in the league and their .324 OBP was 3rd in the AL as was their .255 batting avg (5th in majors). Pete Rose was all over the AL leader boards 2nd in AVG, 2B, BB & OBP, 3rd in hits (199) & triples and 6th in OPS. #1 pick Doug Rader only hit 22 HR but 3 were grand slams, 8 were with Runners in Scoreing position and 5 with RISP & 2 outs. Ron Fairly only played 140 games but hit 19 HR drove in 83 and had a .341 OBP. In short there always seems to be someone on via hit or walk or in Ron Hunt’s case HBP and From Pete Rose (77 RBI) To Earl Williams (70 RBI 17 HR) there always seems to be someone to drive them in.

Defense:

Milwaukee was the top defense in the league committing only 81 errors in 6450 chances. Ken Berry and Gene Clines were perfect in the OF, Caesar Geronimo only committed 2 errors all season and Rose but one. The infield of Fairly, Hunt, Michaels and Raider were zipper tight. The only weakness was in throwing out baserunners as Earl Williams managed to get only 3 of 17 and Johnny Edwards 3 of 13

Pitching: With an avg against of .237 (1st in AL) and team ERA of 3.07 2nd in AL the Brewers were one of the top pitching staffs in the league. Furthermore they were one of the stingiest in giving up the long ball surrendering only 88 HR (2nd in AL 4th in MLB) the entire season) Last Years Cy Young winner Don Wilson won 20 as did Lefty Ken Holtzman while Ken Sanders who had be reacquired after being dealt away last year came back to save 20 as well. If there was one weakness it was bases on balls. The 517 free passes allowed was more than any team in the AL except for the Senators the chief culprits being Blue Moon Odem and Mike Torrez in that regard.

Season Series

Opening day at Milwaukee April

The season didn’t start well for Minnesota as their 3 game series in Milwaukee was the start of a 5 game losing streak to open the year. The teams traded runs in the 1st of game one but in the 5th Don Wilson Singled with two outs as did Caesar Geronimo when Earl Williams produced a pinch hit double to score them both.. Each team would add a pair late a two run Triple by Rose and two solo shots from Grinch and Watson for the Twins but Wilson would double up Blass 6-3. In game 2 Ken Holtzman was even stinger giving up only an RBI double in the 7th while Ron Fairly and Doug Rader would both launch solo shots and a Ken Berry double and a pass ball would make up the rest of the 4-1 win. In the finale Mike Torrez would establish a pattern for the season by getting a 2 run lead and losing it late. Both he and Dick Woodson would go 9 but the game would be decided in the bottom of the 11th when Rose led the inning off with a double and winning pitcher Blue Moon Odem singled him in.

Series 2 May at Minnesota

The short two game series started with Don Wilson shutting out the twins on four hits. The Brew crew took a 1-0 lead in the 4th on a Geronimo double and broke it open with 5 in the 7th on their way to the 7-0 win. In Game two Milwaukee starter Al Downing gave up 10 hits but only one run as the twins went 1-6 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile Milwaukee went 4-8 with Pete Rose, Ron Fairly, Ken Berry and Gene Michael all driving in runs for a 4-1 win

Series 3 June at Milwaukee

Another short series this time in Milwaukee but the same result. Blue Moon Odem only gave up a single run over six and Jerry Bell scattered two walks and a pair of hits for the final 2 to get the save, meanwhile four different Brewers drove in runs off Marty Patten & Dave Goltz for the 5-1 victory. In game two Al Downing gave up one more hit (11) and one more run (12) than his previous start thanks to RBI’s by Hebner and Mangual but an Al Oliver error led to the Brewers first run in the 2nd and doubles by Fairly, Rose and Williams off of Blass in the 3rd led to 4 more runs accounting for the 5-1 final.

Series 4 at Minnesota August

The final series began with Ken Holtzman and Stan Bahnsen locked in an epic battle Milwaukee scored three (1 in the 1st 2 in the 3rd) and the Twins tied it. The Brewers would score single runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th and the Twins answered in the 7th and 8th but could not push in one last run to save the day. In game two the regular Mike Torrez pattern repeated. He was staked to a 5-0 run lead after 3 but the twins kept nibbling back with solo shots from Fosse & Watson and a Nate Colbert double. In the 9th Odem came in with a man on 3rd and the tying run at the plate. Williams allowed one via a passed ball but after walking the tying run he managed to secure the 2nd of his 3 saves with a swinging strikeout of Colbert. Game three wasn’t as close as Milwaukee managed 8 runs off of three different Twins Pitchers while Downing earned his 3rd win vs the Twins giving up only a solo shot to John Boccabella in the 5th and 3 in the 9th when he was already up 8-1 for a 8-4 final.

Season Series 10-0 Milwaukee

Milwaukee is a stronger team on both Defense and Pitching but not by all that much. The real difference here is power. The Twins have a lot of it and live by the long ball, Milwaukee lives by pitching double, triples and the hit and run. Only the 57-105 Cubs (0-10 vs Atlanta) joined the Twins in being out in a season series of 10 games or more against an opponent so there is no team more due than the Twins for a win against Milwaukee and having gone 13-4 in their last 17 to go from iffy wild card to 3rd seed now would be the time to do it. If their long ball can break threw the Brew crew’s rotation then an upset could be in order but it’s hard to see how they will manage to win 3 of 5 against a team they couldn’t win 1 of 10 against. I see them breaking the shutout but I can’t see them managing 3 of 5.

Brewers in 4.