Amazin's take 4 of 5 from Bombers to win "Plus" World Series

OCT 9 Game 1 pitted NYM Jerry Koosman(13-3) verus Fritz Peterson(18-14). Lead by the arm of Koosman and the bat of Donn Clendenon the Mets took game 1 9-0. Clendenon went 5-5 with 3 doubles and a homerun and Koosman pitched 7 shutout innings. Mets scored 2 runs in the first inning and never looked back rbi groundout play Cleon Jones and a rbi single by Ken Singleton started the rout.Mets scored 1 in the fourth on a rbi single by Jerry Grote then the Mets scored 3 in the 5th aided by an error by Gene"stick "Michaels. Clendenon, Aspromonte and Grote delivered rbi hits. Clenedenon hit his 13th hr in the 7th a solo shot and Ken Singleton hit his 20th a two run shot in the 9th to cap off the scoring. Kossman picked up his 14th win and Peterson took the lose his 15th.

OCT 11 Game 2 pitted the Mets Gary Gentry against the Yanks Mel Stottlemyre. Tommie Agee led off the game with his 20th hr of the season which was more than enough for starter Gary Gentry who went the distance yielding only 2 hits. The Mets broke it open in the sixth when Ed Kranepool hit a 3 run hr his 15th of the season followed by Ken Singleton hitting his 21st hr of the season.The mets capped off the scoring with 3 more runs in the 9th, n a rbi single by Buddy Harrelson, a sf by Cleon Jones and a rbi double by Kranepool. Gentry picked up the win his 15th and Mel Stottlemyre took the lose his 8th of the season.

Oct 12 Game 3 pitted Mets Tom Seaver verus Yanks Stan Bahnsen. Mets Took the lead in the second inning on a rbi single by Tommie Agee. The Yankees would tied the game with their first run of the series when Hanson and michaels both singled and hanson came home on an error by Bob Aspromonte in the top of the 5th. The mets Struck for 2 in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. Tom Seaver who the has not gotten much run support lately took it upon himself and had a 2 run single to give the mets a 3-1 Lead. Seaver held the 2 run until the top of the 8th when Yankees catcher Thurman Munson hit his 6th hr of the season to cut the Mets lead to 1. After giving up a lead off single in the 9th and a stolen base Seaver got ex-mets Ron Swoboda to strikeout to en the game, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead in the series.

Oct 13 Game 4 pitted the Mets Ray Sadecki against the Yanks Steve Kline. It was a pitchers duel for the first 3 innings of the game. The Yanks struck for 3 runs in the the top of the 4th giving them their first lead of the series. Rbi single by Roy White and John Ellis, then an rbi groundout by Phil Hanson gave the Yanks a 3-0 lead. The Mets would respond in the bottom of the 4th on a rbi single by Jerry Grote. That was all Steve Kline would give up for the rest of the game. The Yankees put the game away when Roy White hit his 21st hr a 2-run shot in the top of the 9th. Kline got the win and Sadecki took the loss. The Mets still lead the series 3-1.

Oct 14 Game 5 was a rematch of game 1 starters Jerry Koosman and Fritz Peterson. It was a wet damp day at Shea. Mets took the early lead when Ken Singleton hit his 22nd hr off Peterson in the bottom of the second. that was more than enough for the Mets pitchers on that day. After a 35 minute rain delay in the 4th which hurt both starters. The Mets scord again in the 5th on a rbi suicide squeeze by Buddy Harrelson to give the Mets and 2-0 lead. the rain delay force Koosman out after six inings only giving up 1 hit to the Yankees. Tug Mcgraw came on and went the final 3 innings giving up 1 hit over them for the save. In the bottom of the 8th for good measures Ken Singleton hit his 2nd hr of the game his 23rd of the season to cap the scoring. Koosman got the win and peterson took the loss.

The pitching MVP for the series was Jerry Koosman who was 2-0 with an ERA of 0.00 in 13 innings of pitching and the hitting MVP was Ken Singleton who slugged 4 hrs in the series.
--submitted by Howie Fortel--

Tigers Win Series in 5 !

[San Francisco, CA - Michael Hopcroft reporting]
GAME 1 DET 3 SFG 2
Mickey Lolich and Gaylord Perry locked horns in the series opener. Bobby Bonds led off the game with a home run, only to be answered in the third with an RBI groundout by Bill Freehan and a two-out RBI single by Aurellio Rodriguez. The Giants got the run back in the fifth off a Willie Mays solo shot, only to have Dick Dietz give up a passed ball with the bases loaded to plate Bill Freehan for what turned out to be the winning run. Both pitchers completed the game, with Lolich showing his form by striking out nine.

GAME 2 DET 8 SFG 4
Juan Marichal took the mound against Joe Coleman in the second game at Tiger Stadium. Marichal wasn't on his stuff initially, giving up two runs in each of the second and third innings. Bill Dietz his a three-RBI double in the fourth, followed up by an RBI grounder by Marichal – in an inning when Coleman gave up five walks. The game continued as a tie until the bottom of the eighth. That's when things finally fell apart for Marichal, giving up four hits including a two-RBI double by Jim Nothrup, followed by an Aurellio Rodriguez two-run shot. The Giants got a lead-off walk in the ninth, but ended up stranding him on a fly to left and two strikeouts by reliever Timmerman, and the teams headed to San Francisco with the Tigers holding a 2-0 lead in the series.

GAME 3 SFG 10 DET 8
It was a slug fest in Candlestick for game three. The teams traded shots in the first three innings, with back-to-back home runs by Tony Taylor and Al Kaline in the top of the first answered by a two-RBI double by Dick Deitz in the Giants third. With both teams forced to go deep into their bullpens, the Giants pulled in front with a six-run seventh. The Tigers answered with three in the eighth to pull within a run, but Bobby Bonds smacked an insurance home run in the ninth and Jerry Johnson held the Tigers scoreless in the ninth to preserve the win for San Francisco.

GAME 4 DET 7 SFG 2
Mickey Lolich was brave to come to the mound on three days rest, but Gaylord Perry needed an extra day. So the Giants called on Steve Stone to start Game 4. But Stone was clearly out of his depth, giving up six runs in the first three innings. The Tigers cruised from there as Lolich gave up only five hits. The Giants pick up a run in the second and one in the ninth, but by then it was too late; the Giants were forced to go to their pen after the fifth and the game was no real contest. The Tigers took a 3-1 lead going into the critical game 5.

GAME 5 DET 5 SFG 3
Gaylord Perry was at full strength to pitch the critical Game 5 against Mike Kilkenny for the Tigers, who only lasted three and two-thirds innings but did not give up a run. Nobody crossed the plate until a two-run homer by Willie Mays in the bottom of the fifth. The Tigers answered with their own two-run shot by Jim Northrup in the sixth. The Giants took the lead on an RBI double by Ken Henderson in the seventh, but the Tigers exploded in the ninth, scoring three runs off Perry highlighted by a Ed Brinkman two run triple. Dick Dietz hit a two-out single in the ninth but was stranded when Al Gallagher popped out to the shortstop. The Tigers took the series and the world championship four games to one, capping off a campaign that saw them gain 107 regular-season wins. Special congrats to their manager Tom Davis, who had an incredible year piloting his club.

Mets clinch +/- pennant as Kooz no hits Reds in game 2

Riverfront Stadium - Cincinnati, OH
GAME 1 - Mets 5, Reds 4
New York's Gary Gentry was cruising along protecting a 4-1 lead until the Reds exploded on him in the 8th for 3 runs and chased him from the game. The game remained tied at 4 until Tommy Agee hit a bomb off of Wayne Granger to make it 5-4. Tug McGraw, who got the win pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief to shut down the Reds and capture game 1.

GAME 2 - Mets 5, Reds 0
Cincinnati has performed poorly vs southpaws all season. Quite an anomaly for a lineup that is all righty. Jerry Koosman took full advantage of that and tossed an off the charts no hitter. Koosman second inning walk of George Foster accounted for the only Red baserunner of the day. Don Clendenon was the offense as he homered and doubled and knocked in 4 of the Mets 5 runs.

Shea Stadium - Flushing, NY
GAME 3 - Reds 4, Mets 1
With their season on the line the Reds put their trust in lefty Ross Grimsley, who had the unenviable task of facing Cy Young hopeful Tom Seaver. The Mets jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of first when Agee led off the game with a homer. For Seaver one run usually is more than enough, but not on this day when he did not have his best stuff. The Reds scored 2 in the second and probably could have had more if Tommy Helms didn't hit into a run scoring DP. Tony Perez homered in the 4th and Bench did the same in the 7th to put the game away and give cincy life.

GAME 4 - Mets 4, Red 2
Jim Merritt started the game for the Reds, but was on a tight leash. After 2 innings he was gone. All hands were on deck for the Reds and all hands surrendered runs. Meanwhile Ray Sadecki was able to go the distance for the Mets and only yield 2 runs on 3 hits. Cleon Jones hit a huge 2 run shot in the first to start the Mets on their way. Aspromonte doubled home Clendenon in the 3rd and Jones doubled home his Mobile, Alabama neighbor Agee in the 7th to put it away and clinch the pennant for the Amazin's, who will now face the Yankees in a subway series.

1971 +/- ALDC New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals

Game 1 Fritz Petereson starts for the Yankees and Dick Drego for the Royals. Ron Blomberg opened the scoring in the 4th with a HR. It stayed that way til the 7th when Thurman Munson hit a 2 run homer to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. But the Royals finally got to Peterson in the 9th. Amos Otis opened the 9th with a double, followed by a Lou Pinella single to make it 3-1. Paul Schaal followed with a single and Bob Oliver hit a sac fly to cut it to 3-2 with the tying run on first, but Peterson got the next 2 out for the Yankees win. Fritz Peterson got the win, Dick Drago suffered the loss. Yankees 3 Royals 2 Yankees lead 1 game to none

Game 2 Yankee ace Mel Stottlemyre faced Royals Mike Hedland. It was a true pitching duel. There was no scoring through 8 innings with each team managing only 2 hits each. In the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs, Ron Bloomberg hit a single off Al Fitzmorris. Felipe Alou also singled to send Bloomberg to 3rd. Ron Hansen then singled the winning run. Mel Stottlemyre goes all the way with a 2 hit shutout for the win. Al Fitzmorris suffered the loss. Royal starter Mike Hedland went 7 innings giving up only 2 hits.

Yankees 1 Royals 0 Yankees lead 2 games to none

Game 3 The Yankees go with Steve Kline against Royals Paul Splittorff. The Royals get their first lead of the series in the 2nd when Paul Splittorff grounds out, but Paul Schaal scored on the play. The Royals add another run in the 5th when Freddy Patek triples and Lou Piniella singles him in to make it 2-0. Splittorff is cruising at this point giving up only 1 hit through 8 innings. But, Gene Michaels singles to lead off the 9th. The Royals then bring in Ted Abernathy to try to finish out the game. The Yankees send up Felipe Alou to pinch hit and he hits a single, sending Michaels to third. Horace Clarke hits a perfect double play ball to Bobby Knoop, but goes right underneath his glove, letting Michaels score to make it 2-1. Munson grounds out to shortstop advancing both runners, the tying run to 3rd and the go ahead run at second. The Royals decide to intentally walk Bobby Murcer, to face Roy White with the bases loaded. White hits a single to tie the score. Ron Swoboda then comes up with the bases loaded. Ted Abernathy is so rattled, he hits Swoboda, scoring the go ahead run. Ron Hanson then ground to first base, but the Royals couldn't turn the DP, and Murcer scored to make it 4-2. The Royal go down in the 9th and the Yankees make a great comeback to win the series. Steve Kline gets the win. Ted Abernathy suffers the loss.

Yankees 4 Royals 2 Yankees win the series 3 games to 0
--submitted by Jim Halperin--

1971 Playoffs Tigers and White Sox

Game 1 Sunday Oct 1, at Detroit.  Two of the best lefthanders in the business met in game 1 and through five innigs, kept each other off the scoreboard.  Walt Williams opened the game with a double but Mickey Lolich immediately settled down and struck out the side.  Meanwhle Wilbur Wood did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.  The Tigers broke through in the sixth.  With one out, Tony Taylor singled, Al Kaline walked and Bill Freehan singled to load the bases.  Wood struck out AL homerun champ Norm Cash, but walked Willie Horton to force in a run.  The Tigers added two more in the 7th on a Kaline double.  The White Sox got on the board in the 8th on back to back doubles by Rich McKinny and Rick Reichardt and a single by Bill Melton.  But they could do no further damage and the Tigers took Game 1.  Loloch was the wnner (33-9, 1.870, striking out 12 and walking none.  Wood took the loss (24-13, 2.16)  Tigers 3  White Sox 2 

 

Game 2, Monday Oct. 2, at Detroit.  Gates Brown started the scoring in the 3rd with a two run homer (16).  The White Sox came right back in the 4th on a two run double by Lee Richard and a single by pinchhitter Tony Muser.  In th bottom of the 4th, the Tigers regained the lead on another two run homer by Brown (17).  They would add a solo run in the 5th and then in the 6th, Brown struck again, this time a solo blast (18). Brown who was sparingly used prior to Horton's late August injury, has hit 11 homers since Sept 1.and battted .405 in 66 plate appearances.  "I'm just glad I could contribute,." said the man signed by Tiger uber-scout Bill Lajoie while playig in the Ohio penal league.  Freehan would add a two run homer in the 6th (33) and another in the 8th (34).  Joe Coleman got the win (28-4, 2.61).  Vincente Romo took the loss (5-5, 3.44).  Fred Scherman earned his league leading 31st save by entering the gae in the 8th with one out and the bases loaded and inducing pinchhitter Rich Morales to hit into a double play.  Tiers 10  White Sox 4. 

 

Game 3, Wednesday Oct 4, at Chicago.  With their backs against the wall, th Sox opted to send out Wood on two days rest.  The Tigers responded with Les Cain, though Lolich reported he was ready to go.  Whether it was the fact that they had just seen Wood two days earlier or they just wanted to end the series fast, the Tigers sent 7 plyers to the plate before Wood could record an out.  Mickey Stanley led off with a triple and scored when Melton botched Taylor's ground ball.  It would the first of five errors on the day for the Sox.  Wood hit Kaline and then Freehan, Cash and Horton singled.  After Wood got an out, Eddie Brinkman singled and Les Cain drove home two with a double.  That was all for Wood.  Taylor would add a two run single and the Tigers took an 8-0 lead to the bottom of the first.  The Sox came back on a two run homer by Reichardt (18) and a solo shot by Melton (43).  They would add two more in the second, but that was as close as they would get.  The Tigers picked up five runs in the 4th including a pinchhit grand slam by Jim Northrup (29).  After a 41 minute rain delay in the bottom of the 4th, Cain departed and Mike Kilkenney took over. In the 5th the beat down turned into a rout as the Tigers had nine hits including 4 doubles and scored 8 more runs.  Cash capped the Tiger scoring in the 7th with his own grand slam (46).  Every Tiger who batted had at least one hit, Taylor had 4 hits and 5 rbis, Cash had 5 hits and 7 rbis.  KilKenney got the win (5-8, 4.91).  Wood took the loss (24-14, 2.34)  Tigers 25  White Sox 7

 

The Tigers go on to meet the Giants in the World Series

NLCS: Giants sweep Bucs to advance to Series

Game 1: SF 6 PIT 5
The Giants opened the NLCS at home, but it was the Pirates who came out firing. A two-run homer from Hebner in the third, a bases-loaded walk by Gaylord Perry to Steve Blass, and an RBI double by Al Oliver gave the Bucs a 5-1 lead by the top of the fifth. But the fifth was when the Giants started to come back, when Willie Mays hit a two-run homer off Blass. Ken Henderson followed up with an RBI single in the sixth cutting the lead to 5-4. The San Francisco bullpen shut down the Pirates past the seventh, and Chris Speier his a two-RBI double in the eight to put San Francisco ahead for good. Don McMahon ended up getting the Giants win.

Game 2: SF 3 PIT 2 (10)
A pitcher's duel in Game 2 saw Juan Marichal, coming off three days rest, give up a two-run shot to Willie Stargell in the 2nd. But that was all he would give up, scattering five hits and striking out seven. The Giants would tie the game in the seventh when Marichal aided his own cause with a home run. From then on both pitchers battened down the hatches, the game went into extra frames, and the question was whose bullpen would blink first. It was Giusti, who faced his first batter in the tenth -- Dick Dietz -- who promptly smacked a solo shot to break the tie and give the Giants a 2-0 series lead going into Pittsburgh

Game 3: SFG 6 PIT 4
The scene shifted to Three Rivers for a pressure-filled game 3. With their backs to the wall, Pittsburgh started Bob Johnson against the Giants' John Cumberland. And for the early part of the game everything was going the way of the Bucs: Stargell and Mazeroski his solo shots and Juan Hernandez followed up a wild pitch with an RBI single. But the roof caved in in the seventh inning when Bobby Bonds hit a three-run blast to cap off a four-run Giants inning. With the game tied at four, the question became who would strike next. It was Willie McCovey, with a two-run shot with nobody out in the top of the ninth to give San Francisco a 6-4 lead. Al Oliver hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, but Bob Robertson lined out to Mays and the series was over. --submitted by Michael Hopcroft--

D.C. fans bid a fond farewell to Frank Howard

9/28 - 9/30 - RFK Stadium - Washington, D.C

GAME 1 - Senators 2, Yankees 1
Bill Gogolewski (6-10, 2.59) and Stan Bahnsen (17-11, 3.60) locked up in a pitcher's duel with the Nats staking the hard luck Gogo to a 2-0 lead. Gogo began to tire in the 8th and yielded a run to the Bombers, but the outcome was never in doubt as Paul Lindblad came on board to notch his 17th save of the season, which is a very impressive number considering the Nats only won 57 games. Del Unser led off the game for the Nats with a solo shot to deep center. Both Frank Howard and Jeff Burroughs went 2 for 3, with Burroughs doubling home Don Mincher for Washington's second run of the game.

GAME 2 - Yankees 4, Senators 0
Mel Stottlemyre (21-7, 2.29) was brilliant in this 5 hit complete game shutout effort. Mel has been Cy Young "like" all season as the Bombers ace. Bobby Murcer, the undisputed team MVP went 4 for 4 to boost his average to .330, but veteran Felipe Alou was the true hitting star. Alou went 2 for 4 and drove in 2 runs, when he hit a 2 run shot, his 8th of the year, off of Washington Starter Shellenback. Rookie shortstop Jim Mason went 2 for 3 for the Nats in a losing effort.

GAME 3 - Yankees 9, Senators 0
The actual score was 6-1 Bombers, but the game never got completed since the D.C. fans jumped onto the field before the final out could be recorded, thus ending over 70 years of baseball in our nations's captial. All throughout the game fans were heard chanting "Bob Short sucks". In left field they hung a stuffed dummy with a T-shirt on that said "Short Changed". It was an emotional day for both the fans and the players. Dick Bosman started the game and went just 3 innings due to fatigue. Denny McClain came on board and pitched 4 and Casey Cox threw the final 2. The real story was the love fest between the fans and the players. Even the most hardened individuals became emotional in the the home half of the 8th when "the capital punisher" Frank Howard singled with one out. Howard, who has been the face of the Senator franchise since 1965 when he arrived in a trade for Claude Osteen, is also the most beloved Senator player. After reaching 1st, Howard turned to the dugout and saw Tom McCraw trotting outward first to pinch run. This change in the lineup was not a strategic one, as the Bombers were well in control of the game. The lineup switch was all about love and respect. As Hondo began strolling to the dugout the 15,000 fans who turned out for the game rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation for upwards of 5 minutes. Howard, the gentle giant, was overwhelmed by the moment. Even the usually corporate Yankees stood and applauded a man who has meant so much to baseball in our nation's capital. Lost in the shuffle was the fine performance the Bombers turned in and the fact that Howard had a 15 game hitting streak !