Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh Pirates’

1972 Dynasty Baseball Divisional Round Playoffs Pirates at San Francisco

Posted: October 3, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
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The 3rd in a series of writeups about the divisional round in my 1972 Dynasty League

Pittsburgh: Winner NL Wild Card Round:

The write up about the Pirates team as a whole for the Wild Card Round is here.

NL Wild Card game 1 at Riverfront Stadium

It was a battle of the aces as Gaylord Perry a NL Cy Young favorite faced Fritz Peterson the ace of the Big Red Machine. Things started well for Cincinnati as Al Kaline tagged Perry for a homer and an Error by Hank Aaron set up Bill Buckner to drive in Joe Rudi on a grounder for a 2-0 lead. Pittsburgh struck back with two outs in the 6th. Singles by Bill Freehan, Ron Woods and George Scott loaded the bases and Peterson’s 3-2 pitch to Rod Carew was just outside to walk in a run but Tommy Davis K’d to kill the rally. Peterson further helped his cause by beating out an attempt to bunt Bill Bucker to 2nd a two out walk to Joe Morgan loaded the bases for Johnny Bench who singled him in but Perry like Peterson K’d the last man (Kaline) to keep things close (3-1) after 7.

That’s when the Pirates erupted. Bill Freehan led off with a solo shot to make it a 1 run game. Ron Woods walked and with one out Carew singled him to 3rd. Up came Joe Lahoud who drove a ball down the 1B line. Dick Allen dived but couldn’t get it Woods scored easily and Carew beat Kaline’s throw to give the Bucks the lead. Lahoud moved to 3rd on the throw but was cut down on a suicide squeeze when new Pitcher Fred Gladding got off the mound quickly to get the ball to Bench to keep it 4-3. Cincy threatened in the 8th getting runners on 1 & 3 in the 8th and the Pirates had 1st & 3rd with one out and the bases loaded in the 9th but both failed to score. Finally relief ace Mike Marshall came on in the 9th when Perry gave up a lead off double to Dick Allen. With the tying run in scoring position and nobody out Joe Morgan walked bringing up Bench who grounded a ball right to 3rd allowing Sonny Jackson to make the force there for the 1st out. This turned out to be critical as a bad throw by Jackson pulled Aaron off the bad loading the bases rather than allowing in the tying run. With the game on the line and only one out Marshall struck out Joe Rudi and got Ted Martinez to ground softy to short eeking out a 4-3 Pirates win by the narrowest of margins.

WP Perry (1-0) LP Peterson (0-1) Sv Marshall (1) HR Kaline (1) Freehan (1)

Game two at Three Rivers Stadium

Pittsburgh struck 1st off of starter Paul Splittorff as Aaron hit a solo shot with two outs but Bill Singer gave it right back in the 2nd when Bobby Tolan hit a two run shot of his own to give Cincy a 2-1 lead. Jose Cruz lead off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk and Pittsburgh unexpected pinch hit for Singer after only 3 inning of work. It paid off as Johnny Briggs doubled to left center tying the game and after a Bill Russell bunt moved him to 3rd Rod Carew singled him in for a 3-2 Pit lead. It looked like Cincy would come right back. Dick Allen singled in the top of the 4th and Splittorff bunted him to second. Joe Morgan promptly singled and the speedy Allen headed for home but young Jose Cruz’s throw got there first cutting down the tying run.

That would prove critical as relievers Jim Barr, Bob Johnson and Mike Marshall would all bend, none of them would break as they shut out the vaunted Reds office while Pit added two more on a bases loaded double play and a single in the 7th to account for the final 5-2 score

WP Barr (1-0) LP Splittorff (0-1) Sv Marshall (2) HR Aaron (1) Tolan (1)

San Francisco 108-54 1st in NL Beta (1st seed)

Offense: The offense that won a world series two years ago returned to San Francisco as the giants 718 runs scored was only surpassed by the incredible Yankees (822) Rookie Dave Kingman hit only .186 but 26 of his 70 hits left the park. He was one of 3 Giants members of the 20+ HR club with Bobby Bonds (23HR 107 RBI & 30 SB both 3rd in NL) and Harmon Killebrew acquired in a trade with Kansas City who though not was he was still put 21 balls out of the yard to go with the 6 that he hit for the Royals. and drove in 61. The team didn’t hit for much avg. Rick Monday hit the highest at .277 but with their 140 HR leading the NL they didn’t have to, particularly since their 656 walks led the majors. With Darrell Evans walking 137 times , Chris Spier’s 81 and Killer Killerbrew walking 72 times in 111 games there was always someone on base to drive in and Boy did they do so. They are a rally waiting to happen every inning.

Defense: Very few teams were more deadly up the middle. Dave Cash at 2nd with only 2 errors .997 FPCT and Chris Speier at short .986 FPCT were death to runners while Gary Maddox threw out 8 in center while committing only 2 errors Bobby Bonds in threw out 10 more in right but added 3 errors to the mix. Both Killebrew and Kingman were more than adequate at first with the vet outplaying the rookie but Darrell Evans 30 errors at 3rd were high and the SF pitching staff combined for 16 more. The real danger was the catching as the Giants only threw out 2 of 30 who were stealing all season.

Pitching: The Giants had the top team ERA in baseball at 2.66 top in baseball with a .216 avg against and top in baseball with a 1.09 WHIP. Combine that with the 3rd fewest walks in the NL and that meant there weren’t a lot of baserunners around to take advantage of their poor catching arms. s and their .216 avg against and 1.09 WHIP Jim Palmer at 26-5 with a 1.87 ERA and a WHIP of 0.97 and a .198 avg against was practically unhittable Eddie Watt went 9-1 in relief while saving 11 of 13 Dave Gusti who came over from Atlanta in the Trade for Dave McNally saved 17 of 21 to make it very hard to come back from all that offense. Unheralded Phil Hennigan went 6-2 in relief along with a save thanks to a .193 against and a WHIP under 1 (0.94) As for the rest of the rotation Dock Ellis and Mickey Lolich (acquired in May from Baltimore) were adequate both going 12-12 and Ron Bryant went 14-7 to round the things out.

Season Series

Series 1 May at Pittsburgh

In game 1 the Giants offense was too much for Gaylord Perry as rookie Dave Kingman hit a 2 run shot in the 1st while Bobby Bonds did the same in the 6th with Darrell Evans driving in one in the 3rd as well. This was more than enough for Steve Stone who gave up a solo shot by Aaron in the 3rd and came out in the 8th when the Bucks would add two more as they won 5-3

Game 2 was much more interesting with the Pirates managing 2 off Palmer in the 2nd on a Sonny Jackson triple. The Giants took the lead in the 3rd with 3 off Bob Johnson aided by errors from Sonny Jackson and Aaron. Dave Kingman’s double being the big hit. The Pirates tied it up in the 8th on a Coco Laboy single which drove in Jose Cruz to tie it but the key play was Dave Kingman being thrown out at 3rd by Rick Monday on Cruz’s single which would have given Pittsburgh a lead on the Laboy’s hit. Instead the game remained tied after 9 and would stay that way till the Giants erupted for 6 runs in the top of the 12 three of them on a bases clearing double by Rick Monday leading to the lopsided 9-3 score

Pittsburgh got their revenge in game 3 scoring 4 off the newly acquired Mickey Lolich on a pair of 2 runs shots by Aaron (3rd) and Stennett (7th) while Bill Singer held the Giants to a single run in the first over 7 2/3’s Marshall pitching the 9th for his 9th save.

Series 2 June at San Francisco

The Giants took game one despite an injury to starter Jim Willoughby and a pair of 6th inning runs off of Steve Stone who can in to replace him. The giants answered with back to back HR by Speier & Evans in the bottom of the inning and took the lead for good with 2 in the 7th via a Speier single and one in the 8th off of Bruce Kison 3. Eddie Watt got the win and the Giusti trade paid dividends with the save. In game 2 Pitt took an early 5-1 lead helped along by Back to Back HR by Bill Freehan & Ron Woods off starter Ron Bryant but the Giants would rally for four in the bottom of the inning to tie it the big hit being Killebrew’s 3 run shot and would take the lead for good in the 4th when Bobby Bonds Tripled and was driven in by a Killebrew double. Barr managed to get out of further damage but Stone, Hennigan and Acosta would shut the Bucs down the rest of the way. Once again it was in game 3 that Pittsburgh would avenge itself as Gaylord Perry would outduel Jim Palmer shutting them out on 3 hits while the Pirates scored on a Joe Lahoud single in the 1st and a solo shot by Johnny Briggs in the 3rd.

Series 3 August at Pittsburgh

The Giants shut out Pittsburgh in game one Dock Ellis shut them out for 8 with Cy Acosta pitching a scoreless 9th while they went to town on Jim Colburn with Bonds and, Evans homering and Evans driving in 5 runs total for an 8-0 blowout. Game two the Pirates shut them out back with Perry pitching 8 innings of 1 hit ball while Mike Marshall pitched the 9th for the save. Again the victims was Mickey Lolich was the victim of this shutout giving up homers to Freehan and Woods in a 3-0 loss. Game 3 would be another pitchers duel although not as scoreless as for 9 innings Three Pittsburgh Pitchers (Johnson Barr & Marshall) and Three Giants pitchers (Bryant, Watt & Giusti) would hold the other to 2 runs via a pair of singles by Bonds and Kingman in the 1st and a Solo shot by Aaron in the 4th and a Bryant error in the 6th that tied it. In the 10th the Giants would finally get to Marshall as with one out he gave out 3 doubles with a single after the first two in sequence for 3 runs. The Pirates would load the bases off Cy Acosta in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a single, walk and one out error. Acosta would give up one run on a bases loaded walk to Tom Haller and a wild pitch directly afterwards but he would get Ron Woods out on a grounder to short with the infield pulled in and after an intentional walk to George Scott would retire Rennie Steinnett to escape disaster.

Series 4 Sept at San Francisco

As in his last start against the Bucs Jim Palmer would give up two runs, but they would be in the 9th after his team had scored seven in the first six innings. Homers by Rick Monday, Evans were the big blows. Game 2 again went the Giants way. The Bucks got 2 in the 3rd on a Sonny Jackson double but the Giants got four back on an 2 RBI single by Bonds, an RBI single from Garry Maddox and an RBI double from Johnny Oates. Dave Cash would add a solo shot for the 5-2 win. Gaylord Perry would again Victimize Mickey Lolich with a 5 hit shutout in game 3 as Carew, Stennett and Perry himself would drive in runs while Aaron would go deep again for the 6-0 win.

Season Series SF 8-4

The Pirates 91 wins are nothing to sneeze at but the Giants dominated at home and on the road (54-27 records in each) winning 2-3 of every series they played and pretty much only losing when shut out by Gaylord Perry and beating up on Mickey Lolich. They are going to have to manage to win at least one game without Perry and beat someone other than Lolich to win this series. The Duel between him and Palmer in game one will decide a lot but based on the offense the rest of the team has managed I’ve got to give the edge to San Francisco in 4 but frankly I won’t be surprised if it goes five.

SF in 4.

1972 League Playoff Review Wild Card Round National League League Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates

Posted: September 29, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, Dynasty, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
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The 2nd of our reviews of the upcoming wild card series. (Best of 3) the winner of this series will face the SF Giants in the Divisional Round (best of 5) The AL Writeup is here.

Cincinnati Reds 88-74 10 GB 3rd Wild Card

Offense: Last year the Reds underperformed this year this year they were 4th in the NL in HR (128) 3rd in Slugging (,383) 2nd in OBP (.325) & 1st in triples (53) led by Johnny Bench who was 2nd in both HR (34) and RBI (114) to Triple crown winner Billy Williams. Of course being 2nd in RBI’s is easy when you have Joe Morgan (135 walks) and Dick Allen (115) walks on base constantly. Morgan would lead the league with 122 runs and finish 2nd to Lou Brock with 53 stolen bases. Dick Allen would have 99 runs scored along with 30 HR of his own. Bobby Tolan would also score 102 runs thanks to 186 hits while stealing 30 more and young Bill Buckner would hit .307 with 10 triples (7th in league) only one behind teammate Ted Martinez tied for 3rd with 11. This is a big Red Offensive Machine.

Defense: The Reds were part of a 4 way tie for the best fielding percentage at .987 like Boston & St. Louis only comitting 83 errors all year. As much as Bench contributed offensively his record behind the plate was incredible 15 caught stealing in 15 attempts and only one passed ball and two errors in 912 chances over 1255 innings. In fact no person not even Lou Brock would steal a single base against the Reds this season. With no stolen bases against and only two passed balls you had to earn your bases against the Reds. Bobby Tolan who saved the 1969 WS for the Mets by robbing Pete Rose of a 9th inning double was excellent in Center. Meanwhile Al Kaline and Dick Allen would both put up great range factors at 1B Allen would move to 3B with the Ron Santo Trade to the Yankees putting up comparable numbers .961 Fielding over 920 innings. Joe Morgan’s .993 fielding percentage at 2nd kept the infield tight.

Pitching: This was the weak link of the team. Cincy’s 3.56 ERA was 12th in the Majors just ahead of the Washington Senators 3.64. Their 904 strikes were in the bottom 5 of the majors and teams hit .262 against them, only the Orioles and Cubs and KC were more generous with their total hits. On the bright side their 406 walks allowed were 2nd lowest in the NL and 4th best in the majors. Fritz Peterson was a legit ace going 22-8 with a 2.90 ERA in 282 innings his 1.28 walks per 9 innings 2nd best in the NL. Spaceman Lefty Bill Lee did fine work in the Bullpen saving 18 in 20 chances while going 6-5 and Pedro Borbon 8 saves in 11 chances wasn’t bad but Fred Gladding’s 4-9 and Bucky Brandon’s 1-6 and Steve Mingori’s 0-3 in saves is why the Reds didn’t clinch against StL till the final two weeks of the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates 91-71 2nd place NL Beta 17 GB 2nd Wild Card

Offense: Pittsburgh .256 team avg (2nd in NL 4th in majors) and .328 OBP (tops in NL 2nd in majors) meant a lot of men on base which is why Pit was 3rd in the NL in RBI’s 676 and just behind Cincy in HR (126). Hank Aaron’s 31 HR led a team that has six players with double figures in HR. He added 101 walks to allow others to drive him in. Rod Carew’s .341 avg (2nd in league) and .400 OBP (4th in league) on 201 hits and meant there was usually someone on base. Rennie Stennett’s .319 Avg didn’t hurt there either.

Defense: Defense was not a strong point for Pittsburgh winning 91 games despite the 3rd worst defense in the NL and the 3rd most past balls and errors in the Majors a bit of a surprise with a man as steady as Bill Freehan behind the plate but age caught up to him in the field as it did Aaron (19 errors) and George Scott (27 errors). Young Bill Russell’s 23 errors and .967 fielding at short was below avg but both Johnny Briggs (6 errors in LF) and young Jose Cruz (5 errors in center) made up for this by throwing out 7 and 9 runners from the OF respectively but Joe Lahoud surpassed them all throwing out 11 runners while committing no errors in 750 2/3 innings to augment his power at the plate.

Pitching: Pittsburgh gave up the 4th fewest hits and their teams 1.20 WHIP was tied for 4th best in the majors. This was due to Gaylord Perry being practically unbeatable going 22-10 in 302 1/3 innings (5th in NL) with an ERA below 2 (1.97 1st in NL). Bruce Kison (11-10 2.99) and Bill Singer (10-6 3.05) put up respectable numbers but it was Perry who carried the rotation. Meanwhile Mike Marshall came into his own saving 25 in 29 chances. In all Pittsburgh pen saved 44 games while blowing 15 just below 3/4

Season Series

Series 1 May at Cincy

In Game one Cincy got all they needed in the 1st on a Tolan leadoff single to start the inning and a Morgan double, Bench single and Rudi double off Bill Singer with two outs. A solo shot by George Scott off Milt Wilcox in the 2nd made it 3-1 and a two out 9th inning single by Davey Johnson put the Bucks within one but Don Gullett came in for Bill Lee and Struck out pinch hitter Ron Woods to solidify the victory.

The Pirates struck 1st in game two with a Hank Aaron 2 run shot off Paul Splitoff but Bench answered with a solo shot in the 2nd and the Reds took the lead in the 5th when Buckner stroked a 2 out single scoring Kaline & Martinez and grew the lead in the 7th with an RBI single from Splittorff and an RBI double by Buckner but Ron Woods made up for his failure in game one with a 3 run HR in the top of the 8th to tie it and Carew followed in the 9th with a 2 out two on single to give Pittsburgh the 6-5 lead off George Culver and MIke Marshall held the Reds to a single in the ninth thanks to a nice play by Ron Woods, not known for his range on a flare to Right

In the Rubber match Pit scored to in the 2 and 1 in the fourth off Dick Bosman while the Reds could only manage two unearned runs one off winner Bruce Kison and one off Closer Mike Marshall both made possible by Jose Cruz Miscues but that was all as the Pirates won 4-2

2nd Series June

The Reds took their revenge in Pittsburgh beginning with a pair of shutouts Splitorff in game one of a 5-0 route while 4 Reds pitchers kept the Pirates off the Board for 10 innings and finally scored 3 off of Mike Marshall in Relief of Gaylord Perry who had answered them scoreless inning for scoreless inning. A Tolan Triple and a Kaline Sac to score him made the 3-0 final. The Reds jumped to a 3-0 early lead off Bill Singer thanks to an Allen Homer But Woods, Aaron and Bill Russell all went deep in the 7th to tie things at four until Dick Allen doubled in one run and Rookie George Foster pinch hitting drove in a 2nd off of Mike Marshall for a 6-4 win

3rd Series Aug

Bill Singer finally managed a win off Cincy in game one when he shut out the reds over 8 1/3 on two hits while 2 RBI’s from Woods and another by Rennie Stennett in the first off Reds ace Friz Peterson were more than enough in their 5-0 win. Three Cincy Pitchers returned the favor in game two blanking the bucks who had to use five pitchers after Starter Brian Johnson had to be pulled in the 2nd with arm stiffness. Homers by Dick Allen and Joe Morgan added to the 8-0 rout for their 4th win in their last five meetings but the Pirates had the last laugh in game 3 as they blanked the Reds right Back with Ross Grimsley pitching five, Gary Ross pitching three and Mike Marshall getting his 3rd save vs the reds vs 2 losses. It was a 3rd inning solo shot off Wilcox by Scott and an RBI damage by Aaron off off off Mingori that accounted for the 2-0 win.

Series 4 Sept

The final series of year was the most competitive with Mike Marshall getting saves in game 1 & 3 neither Friz Peterson and Bill Singer batted it out to a 2-2 tie before Hank Aaron just beat Bench’s tag on a throw from Dave Martinez after a Rennie Stennett 8th inning single. In game 3 it was the Pirate bats bailing out Jim Barr who left the Reds with a 5-2 lead in the 2nd. A two out Carew single tied the game 5-5 while Hank Aaron’s three runs on the very next pitch from Mike Caldwell finished the job. In the middle game however the Bucks Ace failed in his 2nd attempt to get a win against the Reds as the Big Red Machine scored 3 in the first and then after Pittsburgh fought back to tie it in the bottom of the 9th they took advantage of a Bill Russell error in the 10th allowing Dick Allen and Joe Morgan to single in the winning runs off a game Gaylord Perry who went the 10 inning distance and a final rally which got the tying runs on with two outs in the 10th fell short.

Season Series even 6-6

This series I suspect will come down to who wins the Perry/Peterson Duel. Neither Ace managed a win vs the other team during the season. Both have good offenses but Cincinnati’s is so overwhelming that it’s hard to pick against them, but Pittsburgh has a legitimate closer so if they can get a lead they might hold it. However while Marshall had four saves vs the Reds he also lost a par. Despite this I have no faith in the Reds holding leads once acquired. I suspect as I said it will all come down to the first meeting between Peterson & Perry? Will one or both rise to the occasion? I really don’t know but I have to pick a winner so I’m going to give the edge to the team managed by the winningest manager in Dynasty history (2665 tournaments wins) and the player #1 ranked #1 all time in the game.

Pit 2-1

Dynasty 100 Loss All Futility League Report: East Divisions 5-24

Posted: May 25, 2020 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming, Sable Baseball, Sports
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The latest of a weekly series on the teams in my Online (or in person) Dynasty baseball simulation leagues I run. All are leagues are currently full but if you have an interest in joining the expanded futility league next season or want to be in the waiting list for the great teams league leave a message in comments.

This week we visit the Dynasty All Pathetic 100 loss league consisting only of teams that lost 100 games in a season. As of today most teams have 10 or less games for their season. All starts are current as of 9:30 PM EST Saturday

American League

1973 Chicago White Sox 1st place

When we last left the 1970 White Sox Tampa Bay was nipping at their heels and how it would end was anyone’s guess. Today barring a historic last minute collapse the White Sox look poised to lock up the AL East. 9 1/2 games up with 11 to play.

Heroes: Bill Melton (.268 35 HR 124 RBI ) and Ed Herrmann (..291 37 HR 103 RBI) are contending for the RBI & HR lead respectively. Meanwhile  Tommy John Quest for 20 wins might come up short, but he’s continues to lead the league in innings and remains in the top five in ERA, wins, K’s and avg against.

Zeros:  When last time we looked Sid O’Brien was hitting a bit better than Bobby Knoop and still is .221 to .219 but also like last time his fielding numbers .927 at 3rd and .947 at 2nd aren’t up to grade. If you want to point to a reason why Chicago might clinch this week starter Barry Moore isn’t one of them at 5-9 with a team worst 6.28 ERA over 25 starts.

Wild Cards: The White Sox are the only team in the AL with an ERA under 4 (3.98) and the biggest part of that is the Solid Defense up the middle provided by Luis Aparicio at short, Bobby Knoop at second base and Ken Berry in Center Field.

Coming Attractions: Chicago only needs two wins to clinch but the schedule won’t help much as they play their final three game home series against the west leading 2008 Seattle Mariners and then finish the season on the road visiting the red hot 1973 Texas Rangers 3 three then head for Tampa Bay for a pair against the 2nd Place 2002 Devil Rays before finishing the regular season in Kansas City with three against the 2005 Royals.

Injury Report: The team is all present and accounted for although pitcher Bart Johnson is a tad overworked. However Manager Ingemi has noted that he will be pitching John on three days rest in order to give him the three starts needed for a chance at 20 wins (currently at 17) that might be a risky move with the playoffs coming up.

2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2nd 67-76 10 GB Tragic number 2

Despite some of the biggest producers in the league Tampa Bay finds itself on the cusp of elimination with 11 games to go. Can their big bats pull off a final miracle to give them that chance?

Heroes: The one two punch of Aubrey Huff who leads the majors in Batting, Slugging, OPS and Hits while leading the AL in OBP and HR & RBI’s is complemented by Randy Wynn who leads the majors in runs while settling for 2nd in the AL in batting, Triples, OPS 3rd in Doubles, 4th in hits and 5th in OPS.

Zeros: Unfortunately while Huff and Wynn taketh , pitchers like starters Joe Kennedy (6-12 5.00 ERA .299 Avg against, Tanyon Sturtze (9-9 5.15 ERA 3.03 avg against ) givith away with a lot of help from the bullpen members like Wilson Alverez (5-7 6.96 ERA 1 sv 4 bs ) givith away.

Wild Card: While I specified Alversz under zeros due to the worst ERA on the team the closing staff in general like Steve Kent (3 saves 5 blown) Victor Zambrano (4 saves 4 blown) and particularly Estiban Yan (23 saves 10 blown) contributed to the Rays having the most blown saves in the AL

Coming Attractions: Tampa is the only other AL east team with meaningful games reaming concluding their final road trip with three in Baltimore to face the 2018 Orioles and 3 more in Kansas City vs the 2005 Royals. Then it’s back home to finish the season with a pair against the 1970 White Sox and 3 vs the 1973 Texas Rangers.

Injuries: If Tampa is Eliminated this week it won’t be due to injuries as all are healthy and ready to play

2018 Baltimore Orioles 59-84 3rd 18 GB

In theory the O’s have a shot to catch Tampa Bay to finish 2nd but their main concerning is keeping that half game lead over Detroit to keep from finishing in the basement and trying to miss the 90 loss mark.

Heroes: Johnathan Villar has been a bright spot on the O’s leading the league in SB with a chance to catch Huff for the Runs lead while 3rd in the league in walks and top ten in OBP, OPS & hits. When they managed to get a late lead closer Mychal Glvens has done the job leading the league with 28 saves while blowing only 4

Zeros: Starters David Hess (7.46 ERA .310 avg against) and Bundy Dillan (6-15) 6.34 ERA .311 avg against have a lot to do with where the Orioles are but according to manager Keith D the range or lack there of of outfielders Trey Mancini, Danny Valencia and occasional lapses by Adam Jones when he plays right have a lot to do with the team’s 5.83 ERA.

Wild Cards: Manny Machado came back to the O’s late in the season but he has made an impact hitting .344 and driving 20 in 22 games. Would a full season have done the trick?

Coming attractions: Baltimore will have a lot to do with how things end with 9 games at home first with a chance to eliminate the 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3 then 3 vs 1982 Minnesota Twins also dodging elimination then finishing their home season with a pair vs the West leading 2008 Seattle Mariners fighting to keep their lead before traveling to Detroit to take on the 2003 Tigers in three games to decide who will take up the division’s rear.

Injuries: If Baltimore had made it to the playoffs there was a chance that infielder Tim Beckham might have played again this season but as it is Baltimore will have to play spoiler without him.

2003 Detroit Tigers 59-85 4th place 18 1/2 GB

The Tigers are playing for pride and thanks to a late Mets surge prevent themselves from finishing with the worst record in the majors. Can they pass the Orioles to finish 3rd or will they become a byword for futility?

Heroes: Dimitri Young remains one of the most dangerous hitters in the league currently top in in six different offensive categories and in striking distance in batting slugging and OPS. Alex Sanchez 13 Triples leads the league and his .322 avg is good enough for 8th with a chance to go higher.

Zeros: Mike Maroth leads the American league with 18 losses which is not a surprise given his .312 avg against and 6.41 ERA, but Nate Comejo’s 6.53 ERA & .347 avg is worse despite his 11-13 record but even though Gary Knotts 6.18 & .305 avg against his better than both his 3-11 record is a lowlight for the team.

Wild Card: Despite playing in home run friendly Detroit for half their games the Tigers are Dead last in the AL in homers with only 120 so far this season. Meanwhile their team ERA 5.15 is only outdone by the O’s in futility.

Coming Attractions: Detroit will have a lot to do with how the West is won welcoming the 1973 Texas Rangers and the 2008 Seattle Mariners for 3 each at home before their final brief two game road trip to Minnesota vs the 1982 Twins become coming home to face the 2018 Orioles to decide who is the worst team of them all.

Injuries: Everyone is healthy but given their record not sure if that’s good or bad.

National League East

2009 Washington Nationals 96-50 1st Clinched

The Washington Nationals have had the best record in the majors and the only question left is will they get to the 100 win mark. They are the prohibitive favorite for the World Series but in the playoffs anything can happen.

Heroes:Adam Dunn, josh Willingham, Nyler Morgan Christan Guzman & Willie Harris are all leading or in the top 3 of every offensive category except doubles n the mound closer Mike MacDougal has a 1.98 ERA & leads the league in saves (28) only blowing 5.

Zeros: Livan Hernandez has managed to go 5-8 win 30 starts on a 96 win team. I suspect his 6.52 ERA and .323 avg against has something to do with this. Another weak link is reliever Ron Villone who despite his 6-4 record has blown 4 of 6 games with a 5.30 ERA in 65 games.

Wild Cards: How good is this team? Catcher Will Nieves is about the only member of the team not producing big his .258 avg is the team low with only 1 homer and his 49 RBI is the lowest almond any player with more than 200 ab.

Coming attractions: the quest for 100 wins goes on at home with 3 vs the 1998 Florida Marlins and 2 vs the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates before finishing the regular season in NYC with 3 vs the 1967 Mets

Injury Report: Wil Nieves will miss game one vs the Marlins and Austin Kearns will not be available until the playoffs but the question is will the Nats sit key starters vs letting them compete for batting and slugging titles?

1998 Florida Marlins 80-66 2nd place 16 GB Eliminated

In any other division the Marlins would either be leading or in the thick of things but thanks to the domination of the Nationals they will have to wait for expansion next year for a chance at a playoff spot.

Heroes: Edger Renteria is tied for the league lead in runs (115) & 3rd in SB. CLIFF FLOYD is 3rd in the league in RBI’s (116) & hits (179) and top 10 in batting slugging and OPS and doubles.. One the Mound Livan Hernandez is third in ERA (3.02) and 4th in wins, (14) K’s (170) and inning pitched (217 2/3). In the Pen Matt Mantei is not only 15 of 17 in save chances but 9-4 with a 2.28 ERA out of the pen.

Zeros: If you want to point fingers at how Florida ended up eliminated. Simply look at Andy Larkin (0-8 in 30 games 17 starts ERA 7.13 avg .321) and Ryan Dempster (0-6 10 starts 12.16 ERA .420 avg against. If even five of those 14 losses had been wins. Florida would not be eliminated yet.

Wild Card: Florida as a team is only 1 game over .500 in nine inning games but once you get into extras they are 16-3 the best record by far in the majors and that’s after going 2-3 in their last five games in extra.

Coming Attractions: Florida is playing for pride and stats these days with 3 at Washington vs the 2009 Nationals followed by a quick 2 game final homestand vs the 1967 Mets before heading back on the road Pittsburgh to end their season vs the 2010 Pirates.

Injury Report: Veteran Catcher Gregg Zaun will miss the 1st two against the Nats but will be back to finish the season.

2010 Pittsburgh Pirates 73-73 3rd place 23 GB Eliminated

The Pirates can claim a moral victory. For a ling time they had the worst record in the league and fought back to .500 with 8 games to play. If they were in the west they would only be a game out. Can they finish with a record that would have won the west?

Heroes:Aramas Ramirez is leading the league in RBI’s s (179) and top 10 in batting slugging and OPS and doubles.. Brian Giles is hitt .324 (3rd) with an OBP .435 (2nd) OBS of 1.004 (2nd) slugging .569 (2nd) third in runs (113) triples (11) and walks (105) On the mound Dave Williams 2.80 is currently 2nd s (170) as is his WHIP of 1.01.

Zeros: Mike Fetters leads the NL in blown saves with 8 a 40% failure rate. but with an 8.49 ERA that’s to be expected. At the plate Jack Wilson’s triple crown numbers of .218 3HR 39 RBI’s isn’t scaring anybody.

Wild Cards: Pittsburgh offense is driven by the HR their 148 is third in the majors , their .250 team batting avg is however also 3rd worst in the majors.

Coming Attractions: Pittsburgh’s quest for an over .500 record continues in NY with three vs the 1967 Mets then heads for DC for a pair against the 2009 Nationals before they head home to finish vs the 1998 Florida Marlins.

Injury Report: Armando Rios and Mike Lincoln are both out for the year. Damaso Marte will miss the series vs the Mets but Keith Osik will be available by game 3.

1967 New York Mets 58-88 38 GB Eliminated.

For a good chunk of the season there was a real question if the Mets would loos 100 but now they have an outside chance of NOT finishing with the worst record in the majors? Can they pull one final rabbit out of the hat?

Heroes While :Tommy Davis at 179 hits (2nd) and a .320 avg (4th) and 8th in SB is worth a mention The fact that Tom Seaver has won 20 games for the team with the worst record is the majors (tied for 1st with Randy Johnson is astounding. Seaver is 7th in ERA 2nd in Strikeouts (213) 8th in innings, and 1st in fewest HR per 9 innings (0.49) the ONLY non relief category that anyone is beating Johnson in. If it wasn’t for Randy he would be a shoo in for the NL Cy Young.

Zeros: How poor have Jerry Grote and Jerry Bucheck hit? Tom Seaver has a better avg than both. But if you want to choose a zero Well there’s Don Cardwell (5-14) Jack Fisher (3-20) leading the league in losses and Dennis Bennett (5-11) and of course Ron Taylor with 4 saves in 11 chances.

Wild card: How critical is Seaver? The Mets 4.51 ERA is 7th in the 16 team major leagues. remove Seaver and it becomes 4.80 which would be 11th. But when you hit only 67 home runs last in the majors not to mention last in the majors in doubles hits and RBI’s and last in the NL in walks those 20 wins look even more miraclious.

Coming Attractions: The Mets have three at home vs the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates before jetting to Florida for their final away series vs the 1998 Marlins before ending the season vs the 2009 Washington Nationals. Can Seaver finish ahead of Johnson in wins?

Injury Report: The entire team is healthy for those final eight games?

Dynasty 100 Loss All Futility League Report: East Divisions

Posted: April 19, 2020 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, entertainment, fun, gaming, online gaming, Sable Baseball, Sports
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The latest of a weekly series on the teams in my Online (or in person) Dynasty baseball simulation leagues I run. If you have an interest in joining one leave a message in comments.

This week we visit the Dynasty All Pathetic 100 loss league consisting only of teams that lost 100 games in a season. We are in the home stretch here with about 40 games to go of a 154 game season.

AL East

1970 Chicago White Sox

With 38 games to go the Mariners are just one series away from tying. Can the White Sox continue to hold their lead with a few big bats and and the best pitching in the AL or will a suspect defense at the corners let them down?

Heroes: Bill Melton (29 HR 98 RBI ) and Ed Herrmann (30 HR 80 RBI) may be the 2nd best HR duo for a team but they have made the difference in game after game. Meanwhile on the mound Tommy John has been an innings horse 208 innings, 10 complete games and a respectable 3.72 ERA

Zeroes: Barry Moore has been much worse than his 5-5 record indicates, with a 5.69 ERA and a .296 batting avg against he’s kept many a door open. Meanwhile while Sid O’Brien has been acceptable at the bat when occasionally starting his .933 percentage at 2nd and .930 at 3rd has helped extend plenty of rallies but when it come to bad defense Walt Williams takes the cake with an .897 in left and a 917 in right.

Wild Cards: The best arms in the White Sox bullpen are looking tired as the season nears its end. That could spell disaster shortly.

Coming attractions: The Pale Hose finish a 4 city roadtrip with a pair against the 1st place 1982 Twins before a quick stop at home for a pair vs the 2003 Tigers before heading off to Baltimore for a 4 game series that will likely make or break the 2018 Orioles.

2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Tampa under it’s new manager has risen to within three games of Chicago and on occasion even closer. Can the timely hitting overcome an average pitching staff?

Heroes: No question who the heroes are on this team Aubrey Huff leads the league in batting (.358) Slugging .631 OB+Slugging (1.053) and Runs Batted in. and is top five in Runs, Hits and On Base Percentage. The only reason he’s not a lock for the MVP is teammate Randy Wynn who leads the league in Runs, Triples, Stolen bases 2nd in Avg, .(356) Hits (172) Doubles (37) and is top five in two others.

Zeroes: Estaban Yan may have 21 saves but he’s also blown 8 on the way accounting 4.11 ERA & 6-10 record, and of course a lot of runs don’t help a lot when you have starters Joe Kennedy (6-9 ERA 5.00 AVG .302) and Tanyon Sturtez (7-7 ERA 4.99 Avg .304) helping the other guys along.

Wild Cards: Almost half of their remaining games are against teams currently in or tied for 1st place in a division.

Coming Attractions: It’s two in Minnesota against the 1st place 1982 Twins before a 9 game home stand vs 2008 Mariners (4), 2018 Orioles (2) and the 2005 Royals (3).

2018 Baltimore Orioles

Despite losing their manager early in the season the Orioles still have an outside shot (a very outside shot). Can this ship without a rudder steer itself straight in the closing weeks of the campaign?

Heroes: Jonathan Villar has provided the triple crown numbers for the team (.325, 21HR 71 RBI) while leading the team in runs by more than 40 and stealing 37 bases. While reliever Mychal Givens has proved to be not only a workhorse but one of the best closers in the league with 23 saves with only 4 blown and a 6-2 record to go along with it.

Zeroes: Having a great closer doesn’t help if you can’t get to him and the O’s boast the worst pitching in the AL as David Hess (7.58 ERA 19 HR allowed .316 avg) Dylan Bundy (5.95 ERA 19 HR .305 allowed ) and Andrew Cashner (5.22 ERA .290 AVG 13 HR allowed) just haven’t done the job.

Wild Cards: What as bad as having the worst pitching in the league, having the lowest fielding percentage in the majors (.978)

Coming Attractions: after a pair vs the slugging 1973 Texas Rangers the O’s have 4 at home vs the 1970 White Sox and then start a road trip that begins in Tampa Bay with a pair against the 2002 Devil Rays. If they are to climb back into the race this will be their chance.

2003 Detroit Tigers:

The math still says that the Tigers have a shot but with pitching only slightly better than Baltimore and Hitting that is meh. It will take a real run of luck for these cats to roar into the playoffs.

Heroes: Dimirti Young has been at the top of his game all year with 26 HR 91 RBI a .341 abg and an OPS of .992 On a bad pitching staff Wil Ledezma has managed to put together a 6-3 record mostly from the bullpen with a few starts for good measure and Chris Spurling has thrown 106 innings all in relief with an era under 4 on a team whose ERA is over 5.

Zeroes: While Omar Infante (.205 0HR 25 RBI in 111 games is an obvious choice if you list the Tigers pitching by ERA their four primary starts are at the bottom with only Jeremy Bonderman with an ERA below six (5.45) but Nate Cornejo (9-11 6.14 ERA .343 avg) Gary Knotts (3-10 6.28 ERA 16 HR allowed) and Mike Maroth (6-16 6.75 ERA 24 HR allowed .327 Avg) have been the gifts that keep giving to opposing batters.

Wild Card: Whatever is to blame for Detroit’s problems it’s not the glovework as the Tigers are tied for the best fielding percentage in the league.

Coming Attractions: If Detroit is going to make a move the best time for them is now with a pair at Chicago followed by 4 at home vs the last place 2005 Kansas City Royals and then back on the road for the 1973 Texas Rangers.

National League East

2009 Washington Nationals

The Nationals have dominated the National League since almost the start beginning with a pair of 4 game win streaks to start and never looking back. The only question left is can they sustain this level of winning when the playoffs come around?

Heroes: Adam Dunn has been a monster a the plate with 36 HR and 105 RBI’s meanwhile Morgan Nyjer has not only hit .335 but has stolen 63 bases and scored 96 runs meanwhile John Lannan’s 13-5 record is driven by a .203 batting avg against and 2 k’s for every walk 114 vs 57 (despite 17 HR)

Zeroes: It’s hard to find zeros on a team that has only lost 37 games but while starter Livan Hernandez has given up just one less HR than Lannan he’s also allowed a .312 avg against and a 6.41 ERA on a team that has outscored their opponents by over 175 runs certainly qualifies. How good is this offense? Their “Zero” in the hitting column Elijah Dukes is hitting .235 with 13 HR 83 RBI and 24 doubles. Even their least productive overall hitter Wil Nieves whose .261 avg 1 HR & 39 RBI in 353 AB are not impressive is hitting .315 with runners in scoring position.

Wild Card: Since acquiring their new manager the Nationals who were already solidly in command have won 12 of their last 14.

Coming Attractions: The Nats welcome the NL West with series vs the 1st place 2012 Houston Astros (2) and the 1973 Padres (4) before heading off to a three city Road stand that will take them to Milwaukee, Florida and Pittsburgh.

1998 Florida Marlins

If you moved the Marlins to any other division in the league they would be leading by anywhere from 3 to 8 games instead they find themselves 10 games back with 38 to play. Can they recover?

Heroes: The Marlins have won with pitching (3.72 team ERA) and Starter Livan Hernandez (12-9 2.68 ERA .140 avg .228 avg against) has been the biggest part of an excellent staff, it helps when your closer Matt Mantei is 14 of 16 in save chances with a 9-3 record and workhourse reliever Vic Darensbourg with a 1.51 ERA in 101 1/3 innings and a 9-2 record in relief. Of course Cliff Floyd’s 18 HR and 92 RBI’s haven’t hurt either.

Zeroes: The only dark spot on the rotation has been Andy Larkin (0-7 in 15 starts with an era of 6.63 almost double the team avg. At the plate Derrek Lee has 14 HR but has only hit .201, .180 with runners in scoring position and managed an OBP of .288 while Gregg Zaun has managed only .212 with 4 HR and 44 RBI.

Wild Cards: If you’re going to beat the Marlins you had better do it in nine innings. They are a perfect 15-0 in extra inning games.

Coming Attractions: Florida finishes a home stand with 2 against the 1973 Padres and a pair against the 2002 Brewers before heading on the road to try and knock the 2012 Astros off their perch at the top of the NL West.

2010 Pittsburgh Pirates

After a horrible start the Pirates have somehow managed to make it back to .500. With only 38 games to go can they rally to make a respectable finish?

Heroes: Brian Giles (.327 20 HR 72 RBI) numbers are nothing to sneeze at but for pure power i’s been Aramis Ramierz with 30 HR (2nd in NL) and 117 RBI (1st) that has really done the job

Zeroes: While the injury bug has not been kind to Bronson Arroyo it’s not a good excuse for an ERA 2 full runs over the team avg and a .310 avg .062 above the rest of the staff. Jack Wilson has been a disappointment with a .221 3 28 triple crown line and an OBP under .300 (.291)

Wildcard: The Pirates have been incredibly average everywhere with identical 29-29 records at home and on the road, but have blown 22 out of 56 save chances.

Coming Attractions: Pittsburgh’s quest to go beyond avg continues with a pair vs 2004 Arizona and then 4 at 2002 Milwaukee before they come home for a nine game set that begins with the 1967 Mets

1967 New York Mets

In a league of 100 loss teams the 1967 Mets have been a loser among losers as with 38 games to go they are a single loss away from being mathematically eliminated. Dare I say Amazing?

Heroes: No question who the hero is on this team Tom Seaver is 15-8 with an ERA of 3.36 and 167 K’s vs only 58 walks he’s also pitched 8 complete games which is seven more than the rest of the rotation combined. Despite playing in 103 games Bob Johnson has only managed 167 at bats but in those limited at bats he’s hit .365 with an OPS of .880

Zeroes: At the plate Jerry Grote has been the lowest of the low lights for the gothamites (.170 1 HR 26 RBI in 317 AB) on the mound despite Jack Fisher’s 2-16 record the biggest villains in the rotation are Don Cardwell (4-12 3.16 avg 5.58 ERA) and Dennis Bennett (4-10 6.26 ERA 19 HR in 100 2/3 innings)

Wild Cards: Polhittingly Correct The Mets bats are careful not to offend anyone. They are not only the last in the league in HR, but last in Runs, Doubles RBI’s OBP Slugging and OPS

Coming Attractions: the 1974 SanDiego Padres get the honor of trying to officially eliminate the Mets at their home but if they fail to do so, the 2004 Arizona Diamondback get four chances to do it in Shea before they head off to Houston to face the 2012 Astros.