Jints take 2 of 3 from ‘Spos

Game 1: Through the first 5 innings, the game was a battle. Tied at 2, with each starting pitcher nearing their limit the game looked like it was going to come down to the bullpens. But then in the bottom of the 6th, the Giants broke it open with 4 runs to take a 6-2 lead in big part of Monte Irvin's 3 run pinch hit homer. But the Expos quickly answered back in the top of the 7th with 3 runs of their own, as 7 batters came to the plate. The Giants were feeling good with their 1 run lead which they took in to the 9th inning. But the Expos exploded for 3 runs in the top of the 9th thanks to sloppy pitching by the Giants closer Hoyt Wilhelm. Down 8-6 in the bottom of the 9th, the Giants held a quick team meeting where they talked about the potential of their season slipping away from them. That was enough to inspire a tie as Alvin Dark (HR), Will Clark and Willie Mays all delivered. And so it was on extras. Linzy held the Expos silent in the top of the 10th. And it only took one batter to end the game in the bottom of the 10th as Mr. Strikeout Bobby Bonds launched one out of the park for a Giants win 9-8.

Game 2: Neither starting pitcher made it past the 5th inning in this game. The Giants put up 5 on Montreal's starter Lea and the Expos hung 4 on San Fran's Antonelli. The Expos scored runs in the 6th and 7th innings to take a 6-5 lead and once again the Giants looked worried. But the 8th inning saw 9 Giants come to the plate with Kevin Mitchell coming in and hitting a pinch hit double to put the game out of reach at 9-6. Raines and Dawson each had 2 doubles a piece for the Expos.

Game 3: The Expos were expecting to be swept after seeing how poorly their bullpen played in the first two games. So of course, the Expos delivered the best pitching performance of the series with Scott Sanderson going 7 and giving up 3 runs and both Fryman and Schatzeder pitching an inning of scoreless relief. Couple that with 2 homeruns for the Expos (Wallach and Carter) and 4 stolen bases and you have the recipe for a win. 7 of the 8 position players for the Expos got hits and they led from the very beginning as the Expos beat the Giants 8-3.
The Giants are now 17-13, while the Expos are 12-18.
--
Keith MacDonald

O’s done in by a pair of A’s second basemen

9/5 - Oakland Coliseum
A's 8, O's 5
Jim Palmer vs Vida Blue
Call this the Jerry Lumpe show.  The A's lefty swinging second sacker went 4 for 4 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored.  Lumpe would wind up a homer shy of the cycle as the A's, who were down 2-1 broke the game open with a huge 5 run bottom of the 3rd.  Baltimore would dominate with the long ball as both Chris Hoiles and Bobby Grich went deep, but Oakland was able to hold on as Vida Blue gave way to setup man Rollie Fingers and then closer Dennis Eckersley who notched his 8th save.

9/6 - Double header - Memorial Stadium
A's 6, O's 4
Blue Moon Odom vs Scotty McGregor
Jose Canseco's RBI single scored Rickey Henderson to give the A's  a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st.  Vi Power's 1 out single in the 3rd scored Bert Campaneris to make it 2-0.  That would all be erased in the bottom of the inning thanks to a throwing error by Campaneris with 2 out that allowed Eddie Murrary to reach first.  Boog Powell would then take Blue Moon Odom deep into the night for an Earl Weaver special (a 3 run homer) to make it 3-2.  Oakland did not quit and regained the lead with solo runs in both the 5th and 6th innings.  Ken Singleton's RBI single in the bottom  of the 8th tied it back up at 4-4 as Cal Ripken Jr. easily scored off of reliever Rollie Fingers.  Sal Bando would lead off the 9th with a tape measure shot off of a Hoyt Wilhem knuckleball that still hasn't knuckled.  Oakland would add an insurance run manufactured purely by the feet of Bert Campaneris, who turned a single into a couple of stole bases, including the rare theft of home.  Eckersley came on in the 9th to close it out for his 9th save.

9/6 - Game 2
A's 10, O's 3
Dave Stewart vs Dave McNally
Smoke and McNally were both teetering on the edge until the A's blew it open with a rare 1-2-3-4 run tally in successive innings.  McNally would hit the showers after 5 and his replacement, Dennis Martinez wasn't much better.  Oakland would hit 5 homers on the day and beat Baltimore at their own game.  The crushing blow was a 3 run shot by Dick Green, which immediately forced the Orioles bench to confiscate all sharp objects in the near reach of their manager Martin King.  Baltimore's team batting average fell to .242, while their team ERA rose to 5.57.  By sweeping the O's Oakland rebounded nicely from being swept in their previous series by the Tigers.

Eddie Joost: 1916-2011

Eddie Joost, an All-Star shortstop who starred for the Philadelphia A’s in the 1940s and 1950s, died yesterday at age 94.

Joost played 17 seasons in the majors but didn’t find consistent success until age 31, when he drew 100 or more walks in six consecutive seasons while posting a .391 on-base percentage with an average of 18 homers and 97 runs per year.

He’s a prime example of how focusing on batting average can significantly undersell a player’s value, as Joost’s excellent defense, strong power for a shortstop, and spectacular plate discipline more than made up for a lowly .239 career batting average.

Consider that Joost had six consecutive 100-walk seasons and the rest of the shortstops in the history of baseball have combined for 21 total 100-walk seasons. And from 1947-1952 he ranked tied for seventh with Yogi Berra among all American League players in Wins Above Replacement behind Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Larry Doby, Phil Rizzuto, Vern Stephens, and Lou Boudreau.

In KOD 12 Eddie splits time at short with Bert Campaneris.

KOD 12 - Week #8 Online Newsletter - Featuring "Tiger Beat" by Tom "Crash" Davis

KOD 12 Online Newsletter Link

Redbirds get hot and take 2 of 3 from Dem Bums

GAME 1:  As Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals took the road to open a series against the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, there was no reason to feel optimistic about their chances of turning around from a stretch of five straight series in which the club was lethargic on offense, and the pitching wasn't exactly stellar.

Bob Gibson, not exactly a dominant hurler so far, took the mound against Sandy Koufax and his 1.00 ERA. The Cardinals came in to the game having hit a total of 13 homers in 21 games. The Giants' Willie Mays has 10 all by himself. The Dodgers were looking to take advantage of a reeling ball club, and solidify their position as strong playoff contenders in the NL West.

After Koufax faced the minimum of three batters in the top of the first, albeit with a walk and GIDP in the mix, things went about as they have for the last couple of weeks for St. Louis as Gibson walked Jackie Robinson leading off the contest, then Maury Wills singled. Gibson then poured gasoline on the smoldering embers by trying to bear down too hard and uncorking a wild pitch while facing Steve Garvey. But he settled down and induced Garvey to pop up on the infield, and got Duke Snider to ground out to first, with Joe Torre making the play unassisted as Robinson scored the first run of the game. Gibson then struck out Pedro Guerero.

Torre then lead off the 2nd with a rocket shot into the left field bleachers to even the score at 1. Gibson retired the Dodgers in the second, and lo and behold, little Curt Flood duplicated Torre's feat with another solo home run to put the Cardinals up 2-1.

The Dodgers evened things up in the third on yet another walk-single combination by Robinson and Wills, with Robinson scoring on a double-play grounder by Garvey.

The Cardinal fourth saw the third solo home run of the game as Ken Boyer connected with one out to put the Redbirds back on top 3-2. The Dodgers failed to score in the fourth, when the Cardinals erupted for three runs off of Koufax on a walk to Flood, a stolen base, and a double by Red Schoendienst. Koufax fanned Stan Musial, but then Joe Torre connected for his second home run of the game (and season). Then in the sixth, George Hendrick greeted Koufax with home run number 5 of the game. 

The sudden outburst of power was perplexing in itself, but to erupt against Koufax made one wonder if it's not a sign of the apocalypse!

Gibson settled in with the offensive support and went the distance for his second win, striking out 9 in the 8-3 victory.

Game two saw things return more to form for both clubs, as the Dodgers got off to a fast start against Steven Carlton, putting two on the board in the bottom of the first after Fernando Valenzuela blanked the Cardinals in the top half. The Dodgers had their two runs after only three batters, as Pee Wee Reese started things with a single, and his Brooklyn batter mate Jackie Robinson tripled into the right field corner to plate the first run. Jackie then crossed the plate when Gil Hodges grounded out to Boyer, into the hole between short and third. The Dodgers added solo runs in the third and sixth, the latter coming from Roy Campanella's second of the year, and Valenzuela went the distance in getting second victory, 4-1.

The series shifted to the Midwest for game three, as the Cardinals sent Larry Jackson to the mound to face Don Sutton. Jackson surrendered a one out single to Robinson and a double to Garvey to put Dodgers on second and third, but then reached back and struck out Duke Snider and Pedro Guererro to keep the Dodgers off the board.

The Cardinals then went to town, and were never really threatened. Lou Brock reached first on a bouncer to short that Maury Wills rushed the throw and pulled Garvey off the bag for an error. Brock moved to third on a bloop single by Curt Flood, and Musial walked to load the bases. Bill White then drilled a long home run into deep right, a grand slam.

The Cardinals continued their offensive outburst in the third, on a Musial double, and after two outs, consecutive singles by Schoendienst, Tim McCarver, Ozzie Smith, and even Jackson got into the act with a run scoring base knock.

The Dodgers got three back in the next two innings, but the Cardinals had another 3-run outburst in the sixth, with Tommy Herr, who replaced an injured Schoendienst at second, doubling home two.

The Dodgers added two late runs on a Steve Garvey homer, but the die was cast as St.Louis coasted to 10-5 victory.

--submitted by BikeMike--

Amazin’s drop open take next 2 vs Braves

8/29 - Fulton County Stadium
Braves 4, Mets 3
Tom Seaver vs Tom Glavine
Once again Tom Glavine hurts the Mets and Tom Seaver again puts forth a sub par performance.  Keith Hernandez' RBI double with 2 outs in the 7th ended Glavine's day and tied the game up at 3-3.  That lead would expire in the bottom of the inning as Joe Torre would hit a go ahead solo shot off his future Met teammate Seaver.

8/30 - Fulton County Stadium
Mets 6, Braves 3
Warren Spahn would have two blow up innings where he allowed the Mets to score 3 runs in each.  Kooz scattered solo runs in the 2nd, 5th and 8th fanned 10 and got the win.  Back to back homers by Kevin McReynolds and the Straw man in the top of the first made it 3-0.  It was 3-2 going into the 7th when Kooz singled with 2 outs, then moved to third on Mookie Wilson's single.  An RBI double by Felix Millan was followed up by a 2 run single by Mex to help New York increase it's lead to 4.  Skip Lockwood and Jesse Orosco would split the 9th inning with Orosco getting his 3rd save.

8/31 - Shea Stadium
Mets 6, Braves 3
Jon Matlack, who holds the record for the lowest career ERA at Shea, was home and in his office.  Despite a rocky start, 2 runs in the 2nd, Matlack got into a groove and the Braves were in trouble.  The only question now was, "would the Mets hit ?"  That question was answered in the bottom of the third when the Amazin's posted a 4 spot.  Gary Carter would score thanks to an error by Jeff Blauser at short on Matlack's slow dribbler.  A past ball charged to Del Crandall allowed Buddy Harrelson to trot home from third.  Mex would knock in the balance to make it 4-2 Metsies.  Backman would bunt home a run in the 5th and McReynolds would single home Maz to make it 6-2 New York.  Hank Aaron's RBI double in the 7th made it 6-3, but the Braves could get no closer.  Matlack would fan 10, while walking just 1 in 8 innings of work.  Ron Taylor would pitch a perfect 9th for his second save.

O's sweep Rangers

No pitching for either team in the first two games and then all the sudden, it comes on in the third game.

Juan Gone had a good start to the series with a 4-5 day, 2b and 3 HR’s…but got worn out and does only a little the other two games…

--submitted by Jamie Watkins--