Posts Tagged ‘san francisco giants’

1972 Dynasty Baseball Divisional Round Playoffs Pirates at San Francisco

Posted: October 3, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
Tags: , , , ,

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.

Dynasty All Time Great Teams League “C” Division Update

Posted: May 17, 2020 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming, Sports
Tags: , , , , , , ,

The weekly update of the various Dynasty Leagues that I run. This week Division C in the All Time Any Time Great Teams League. (Note this post was written before the results of Saturday’s games were complete). All individual stats were current at the time of writing.

American League

1924 Washington Senators 29-25 1st

The fight for the top of the AL “C” Division has been an up and down affair Washington has lost 5 of it’s last 6 but still clings to a half game lead pending one series for their Rival Kansas City can their hitting and pitching come together to keep the lead?

Heroes: Walter Johnson Continues to impress after a slow start currently 3rd in ERA tied for 1st in wins and innings pitched, with the best batting avg against (.201) & 2nd best WHIP 1.09 in the league. Sam Rice has also bounced back leading the league in triples 4th in hits and 5th in batting

Zeros: While he’s been phenomenal behind the plate (.993 FPCT 5.57 Ranger factor) Muddy Ruel has been a disaster as the #2 hitter with a .204 avg and only 13 RBI in 186 ab and that’s with Sam Rice hitting ahead of him. Joe Martina has been getting a little more work but that’s added up to an 0-2 record with a blown save in his only chance a 6.67 ERA and seven round trips allowed in only 28 1/3 Innings

Wild cards: Like last year the Senators are dead last in the majors in homers (16) but are 1st in triples with 35. They are also almost impossible to steal against with an .833 caught stealing avg with only Toronto’s Ricky Henderson managing to swipe a base (while being caught twice) against them. The Senators are the only team in the majors with a winning record AND a negative run differential (-3).

Coming Attractions: The Senators finish their 12 game road trip in the division with 3 at the 2002 Anaheim Angels and then fly into the Bronx to take on the red hot 2009 New York Yankees before starting June with a brief 3 game home stand vs the 1998 Oakland A’s

Injury Report: Washington remains one of the least injured teams in the majors with a clean bill of health and with only 24 men on the roster that’s critical.

2015 Kansas City Royals 27-24 2nd place 1/2 game out

A dip from the best record in the league during a Washington winning streak was followed by a 7-3 surge while Washington went 4-6. This has them on the brink of 1st again and a game up for the last wild card. Will Kansas City ride that see-saw all season or can they break away from an increasingly crowded AL C pack?

Heroes: Lorenzo Cain is not only 2nd in runs in the league and 1st in triples on the team but it’s Ben Zobrist (.312 avg 13 HR 43 RBI) & Kendrys Morales. While the bullpen is strong Johnny Cueto (7-1 2.93 ERA 6 GG in 12 starts) is the ace that makes it easy for them

Zeros: While the bullpen overall is strong Madison Ryan has been a disappointment 2-2 5.40 ERA and most importantly 4 blown saves in four chances. Of course the starting pitching must take some blame Edinson Volquez (1-7 5.43 ERA) Danny Duffy (5-4 7.28 ERA .332 avg against) and Jeremy Guthrie 1-2 8.65 ERA .353 Avg against) make the pens job much harder.

Wild Cards: Only Toronto has stolen more bases in the AL than KC (30) and only Texas and the Senators have more hits but nobody AL team out homers them. But their .143 Caught stealing rate is one of the worst in the league.

Coming Attractions: A critical 3 game home series with the 1954 Cleveland Indians will determine if they will hold 1st place and it gets no easier with 3 as the 2010 Texas Rangers come to down with division rival 2002 Angels to follow.

Injury Report: KC remains healthy and they’ll need it with those two big series coming

2009 New York Yankees 27-27 3rd 2 GB

The Yanks 8-2 run including winning their last 5 straight (including a sweep of their arch rival Red Sox) has put them at .500 and right back in the race. Can this run continue or will it run out of breath as it reaches the pack in front?

Heroes: C.C. Sabathia has been a monster and a half leading the league in WHIP (1.05) 2nd in wins (7-2) and 4th in ERA (2.63). Meanwhile Robinson Cano .317 Avg 7 HR 32 RBI is leading the league in runs and 2nd in hits. Oh and Mark Teixeria .296 17 HR (2nd) 49 RBI (4th) impresses too

Zeros: Nobody can call Brian Bruney lazy with 22 appearances in 54 games but with an 0-1 record 8.49 era and a blown save in his only chance, you can’t call him good either. Meanwhile A. J Burnett’s starts have not quite been an exercise in futility but with a 4-6 record 6.63 ERA and an .302 avg against, it’s pretty close to one. Meanwhile Mariano Rivera has blown a full third of his save chances

Wild Cards: The Yanks are right now 2nd in runs and HR in the AL but their 4.71 ERA is the worst of any team not under .500 in the majors and are having trouble finishing games with the most blown saves in the majors (11) in 21 chances with Mariano Rivera leading the AL in saves (10) and the majors in blown saves (5)

Coming Attractions: The Yanks end a 30 game homestand with 3 vs the 1968 Detroit Tigers, 3 vs the 1st place 1924 Washington Senators and 3 vs the 2015 Kansas City Royals before they set off for a 9 city Jaunt to almost every city in the league.

Injury Report: Catcher Jose Molina has missed the whole month of May with injuries and is expect to miss the whole month of June as well which means a lot more work for everyone else behind the plate.

Anaheim Angels 18-33 4th place 9 1/2 GB

The Angels woes were compounded by a 10 game winning streak but they’ve won their last 3 series including a set against the formidable 2016 Cubs. Has the worm finally turned for the struggling halos?

Heroes: Garret Anderson has been a bright spot on a bad season leading the league in double while leading the Angels in RBI’s (45) and knocking 7 HR over the fence and 4th in ERA (2.63). Donnelly Brendan has done fine work out of the pen with a 5-2 record a 2.31 ERA and a .218 avg against. in 19 appearances

Zeros: Alas the agony of choice remains. Kevin Appier  (3-8 6.50 ERA .281 avg against ) and Jon Lackey ( 1-5 7.39 ERA .362 avg) have actually improved their lines since last time but not enough to get off the list. Nor has Ben Molina whose line of .184 1 HR & 7 RBI is better but still horrible.

Wild Cards: With the worst ERA in the AL (5.08) and the 2nd worst batting avg in the AL The Angels don’t take a lot of leads into the 9th but when their .900 save conversion percentage all via Troy Percival which is odd given his 6.11 ERA. The question is can Anaheim’s new manager get them to that 9th with a lead?

Coming Attractions: The Angels get a chance to continue their series winning streak vs the 1968 Detroit Tigers and the 1924 Washington Senators before hitting the road to face the 2015 Kansas Royals.

Injury Report: Kevin Appier and Darin Erstad will both be sidelined for the Detroit series but will make it before the Senators leave town, however reliever Dennis Cook likely won’t be available till the last game in Kansas city.

National League

2016 Chicago Cubs 36-18 1st

Chicago has not only broken their tie with San Francisco for sole possession of 1st place in Division C but holds the best record in the majors and the largest lead of any division leader and the formula has been solid pitching. Can the staff hold the line as the weather get warmer?

Heroes: With a team ERA of 2.85 the choices are wide. There is Aroldis Chapman with a league leading 13 saves & a 3-0 record. John Lester (6-1 2.05 ERA over 12 starts ) and Hard Luck Jake Arrieta (5-6 2.16 ERA .136 avg against and anemic 0.82 WHIP in 12 starts) who are 2-3 in league ERA.

Zeros: On a team with a TEAM avg of .241 Javier Baez line of .220 1 HR & 19 RBI isn’t scaring anyone. On almost any other team Kyle Hendricks 5-5 record .233 avg against & 4.08 ERA would be avg but on a team with a TEAM avg against of .194 & 2.85 it stinks.

Wild Cards: Despite having NO player in double digits in HR the Cubs are thriving in Wrigley with the best home record in baseball (24-6) and while the team’s offense is anemic they are 14-5 against left handers this season. Of course giving up the 2nd fewest HR in the league (39) helps a lot.

Coming Attractions: It’s on the road to Houston to face the 2005 Astros then to the west coast vs the 1962 San Francisco Giants, before stopping home just long enough for 3 with the 1975 Cincinnati Big Red(s) Machine.

Injury Report: All present and accounted for. It will be interesting to see how the pitching holds up if that changes.

1962 San Francisco Giants 30-24 2nd place 6 GB

In any other NL division the Giants Record would have them either tired for 1st or just 1/2 game out. But with the Cubs pitching shutting everyone down the Giants will have to play even better if they want to avoid a one game wildcard playoff.

Heroes: It will surprise nobody that Willie Mays 46 runs 2nd in NL is coupled with 13 HR 42 RBI and perfect defense but Willie McCovey’s 47 RBI’s (3rd vs Mays 8th) 15 HR (4th vs Mays 7th comes with a .390 avg that would lead the league if he wasn’t 12 plate appearances short to qualify.

Zeros: Jose Pagan’s .190 avg 1 HR & 14 RBI with only 18 runs scored in 66 more at bats than McCovey is nasty but not as nasty as the Giants Bullpen who with the exception of Stu Miller has been horrible. Mike McCormick (5.35 ERA .304 avg against 1-2 1 sv) Don Larson ( 7.20 ERA .333 avg against 1-0 2 BS ) Gaylord Perry ( 7.31 ERA .319 avg against 1-3 1.84 WHIP) and Bobby Bolin (10.40 ERA .393 avg against 2-3 2.31 WHIP) are the primary reason why the Giants are back in the pack.

Wild Cards: The Giants team ERA is 4.59 but their 1-4 starters all with 11 or more starts hold ERA’s of 2.78, 3.55, 3.77 & 3.86. It’s a good thing too because the Giants +6 Run differential is the smallest of any NL team with a winning record.

Coming Attractions: The Giants have nine at more before a long 27 game road trip welcoming the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, then the 2016 Chicago Cubs and finally the 2008 Phillies before hitting the road in June.

Injury Report: Reliever / spot starter Gaylord Perry won’t be available till the final game vs the division leading Cubs. Given how he’s pitched that won’t hurt much.

2008 Philadelphia Phillies 24-33 3rd place 13 1/2 GB

A month ago the Phillies were right in the NL C mix now they find themselves 9 games below .500, with a new manager and struggling to get back in the mix in a tough decision. Is this drop a crash or just on a blip in the road back to contention.

Heroes: Ryan Howard‘s 22 Homers leads the majors and his 47 RBI’s are good enough a tie with SF’s Willie McCovey’s for 4th in the NL On a team with a weak bullpen J.C. Romero has appeared in half of Phillies games only allowing a .209 avg & a 1.09 WHIP. Although Brad Lidge has blown 4 his 8 saves are 3rd in the league

Zeros: Rudy Seanez has worked in even more games than JC but without the success with a 5.89 ERA, a 2-4 record and only one save in 4 chances Pat Burrell’s .189 avg 7 HR 19 RBI aren’t going to get the Phillies where they need to be. Chris Coste’s .234 avg 7 HR & 25 RBI is better than Burrell but when you’re a catcher & gun down only 8 of 87 people trying to steal that’s a recipe for disaster.

Wild Cards: Philly’s batters are the easiest K’s in the league whiffing 453 times so far this season but when they connect the ball travels far, their 80 Home Runs lead the majors and while their pitching has been terrible their team ERA of 4.99 is 2nd worst in the NL, when the ball is hit to their players they make the play, their fielding percentage of .989 is 2nd in the NL But it’s lefites (7-14) and road games (6-15) that are most hazardus to their record.

Coming Attractions: Philadelphia finishes their homestand with 3 vs the 2005 Houston Astros before going on the road for a bit starting in San Francisco to face the 1962 Giants before heading to Cincinnati to face the 1975 Reds run by the Phillies former skipper.

Injury Report: All hands are on deck and healthy.

2005 Houston Astros 22-32 4th place 14 GB

With the top of the division surging Houston’s needs to make a move soon before the Giants and Cubs get too far to catch, can their good pitching make the difference?

Heroes: Roger Clemens leads the majors in ERA. In the NL he’s is 2nd in Innings & wins, 3rd in batting avg against and 6th in K’s. Meanwhile out of the pen Dan Wheeler’s has done his job with a 2.13 ERA a .198 avg against and a WHIP even better than Clemens 1.00 at .067.

Zeros: Despite their record the starting rotation has put up good numbers been fine with two exceptions Wandy Rodriguez 6.14 ERA .313 avg against with a 1.88 WHIP means no trouble at the plate. Andy Pettitte isn’t doing much better with a 5.14 ERA a dozen homers given up and a 2-8 record to go with it Unfortunately they aren’t facing any Houston batters Adam Everett has been the worst of the lot a .187 avg 2 HR & 6 RBI.

Wild Cards: With a 3.81 ERA (3rd in NL) and a .990 fielding PCT (1st in NL ) you would think Houston would be right in the thick of things. But add in a .230 batting avg , .301 OBP & .347 slugging pct .648 P{S (all worst in the majors) coupled with only 36 HR (worst in the NL) and you get a last place team 14-22 on the road and & 5-11 vs lefties.

Coming Attractions: Houston takes a shot against the even better pitching of the 2016 Chicago Cubs who come to town finishing their homestand. Then it’s off on the road first to Philly to take on the 2008 Phillies and then to Brooklyn to take on the 1955 Dodgers.

Injury Report: There might be reason for the Astros lack of punch, but injury isn’t one of them.